By Tanique Williams
Legislative Gazette, March 5, 2013
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Assemblyman Keith Wright, D-Harlem, joined with Labor Committee Chair Carl E. Heastie, D-Bronx, and members of the Assembly Democrats announced plans Tuesday to pass legislation (A.38a) that would raise the minimum wage to $9 per hours and index it to the rate of inflation. …
Silver said that if enacted, the Assembly's proposal would directly benefit more than 925,000 working New Yorkers, while stimulating local economies as families who receive an increase in wages will spend their additional income in neighborhood businesses.
"It will benefit families trapped between the desire for financial independence and the constant erosion of their wages," said the speaker surrounded by fellow Democrats. "By passing the legislation, we will be rewarding hard work with a wage families can live on."…
New York State AFL-CIO President Mario Cilento; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union President Stuart Appelbaum; Business for Shared Prosperity member Darius Ross; and Amador Rivas, a member of Make the Road New York, were also present at the press conference to show support of a "living wage" at $9 per hour with indexing.
Copyright 2013 Legislative Gazette