Dr. King’s legacy means raising the minimum wage

On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 94th birthday we recall his message that true racial justice goes hand in hand with economic justice as he told striking sanitation workers just weeks before his death that “our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality.”

Dr. King’s legacy could not be more relevant to Black workers today, almost half of whom make less than $15 an hour, compared to 26% of white workers. As workers wrestle with historic price increases, New York must honor Dr. King’s legacy by raising New York’s minimum wage to $21.25 by 2026.

New Yorkers are living through the gravest cost-of-living crisis in 40 years. With the minimum wage frozen at $15 an hour, the minimum salary is now worth 15% less than in 2019 — leaving underpaid workers to bear the brunt of this crisis. That hits Black women and women of color hardest, 41% of whom make less than $15 an hour.

Gov. Hochul recently proposed “indexing” the minimum wage so that it goes up annually with the cost of living. New York would be joining 18 other states that already index their minimum wage. But New York’s workers need a raise first, or to be more accurate, a restoration of what $15 would be worth today had it kept up with rising prices, which translates to $21.25.

This is neither far fetched nor cost prohibitive, but absolutely necessary. Here’s why.

The concept of indexing isn’t new for New York, but workers have been left out. Toll fees across the state have been indexed to rising costs for years, ensuring that the city and state have the revenues they need to grapple with rising costs. Why should it be any different for working families? A $21.25 minimum wage represents what workers would be receiving by 2026 had New York indexed its first-in-the-nation $15 minimum wage back in 2019 to keep up with rising prices and worker productivity.

The primary driver of price increases is not the cost of labor or raw materials, but profits, which now account for more than a third of rising costs. Corporations have seen some of their biggest profits over the past decade; profits actually spiked during the pandemic. But these record profits are not reaching their workers.

For example, UPS saw its profits soar during 2021, due to price increases and volume growth. Just months after making $10 billion in annual revenue, however, UPS executives slashed the wages of their part-time employees who in New York City struggle on about $16 an hour. Similarly, Chipotle experienced record revenue in 2021 and then only raised restaurant wages to an average of $15. They failed to mention that they also increased their CEO’s salary, doubling his income from $16.1 million to $38 million.

Executives and shareholders across various industries report record salaries, yet the workers responsible for their success are struggling to make ends meet. We can’t tell people to work for a living and then watch them go broke trying, while the people at the top get even richer.

If we don’t restore the value of New York’s minimum wage before indexing it, we will be codifying poverty pay and the current eroded minimum wage for exactly the workers who keep our state afloat, leaving Black women further behind than ever. Instead, New York can uplift 2.9 million workers to help them adjust to rising costs right now and afford the resources needed to support their families. That means more spending and more money to tax.

An economic recovery is impossible without working families having the means to afford basic necessities by supporting small and local businesses. Implementing a $21.25 indexed wage gives them the ability and security to do that now and in the future.

Plus it’s popular! New polling from Data For Progress shows that 80% of New York voters — 89% of Democrats, 82% of independents, and 65% of Republicans — agree that workers in today’s environment need much more than $15 an hour, and support my legislation with Senate Labor Chair Jessica Ramos to raise the minimum wage to $21.25, and then introduce automatic increases each year after that.

Waiting too long to restore a fair minimum wage hinders our economic recovery and preparedness, and reverses victories already won to help uplift Black minimum wage workers. Taking action now will strengthen our workforce, support small businesses and shrink the racial wealth gap — transforming our economy to become more resilient and just.

Ten years ago, New York led the nation as the first state to take action in response to the worker-of-color-led fight for $15 movement, embodying Dr. King’s commitment to economic and racial justice. Let us prove our commitment to racial and economic justice once again and fight for $21.25.