ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo announced Tuesday that he’s going to unilaterally raise the minimum wage for 10,000 state workers to $15 an hour.
The move will affect 1,000 employees in New York City, where the higher wage will be gradually phased in and hit $15 at the end of 2018, and 9,000 workers upstate, who will have to wait until 2021 to hit $15.
Cuomo is up for re-election in 2018.
He said he’s speeding up the hike in New York City because the cost of living is so much higher.
The action came as workers across the nation staged rallies demanding a $15 wage for fast-food jobs.
The Governor’s Office estimated the extra cost to taxpayers at $20 million when fully phased in.
Republicans were furious.
“Go to Seattle or France, where they raised the minimum wage,” said Assemblyman Andrew Raia (R-Suffolk). “When you go to place your order at McDonald’s, you don’t get a person. You get a touchscreen. You either get the raise or you lose your job. It doesn’t make any sense, and it doesn’t help if you’re one of the people who becomes unemployed.”
Mayor de Blasio commended Cuomo but stopped short of promising the same for city workers, who earn a minimum of $12 an hour.
“We’ve been addressing this issue already to make sure city workers are better paid,” the mayor said.
The Post has revealed that some city workers live in homeless shelters because they can’t afford rent on what they earn.