Last month, New York State Senator Jessica Ramos and other Democratic state lawmakers proposed legislation alongside two prominent labor unions to bump New York's minimum wage to $20.45 by 2025, Brooklyn Post reports. With rent prices soaring in the country's largest city, New York's current minimum wage of 15 bucks an hour (which came to the floor as part of the 2016-17 State Budget, per ny.gov) just isn't cutting it anymore.
For many workers, increasing the minimum wage is only the first step toward improving conditions in the workplace. That's why union initiatives — like the one driving a wedge between Starbucks workers and their corporate proprietors — are so prolific in the service industry; they allow workers to band together on issues they feel aren't being addressed by their employers. Unfortunately, workers who advocate for unionizing often face consequences. Take pro-union Starbucks employees, who have been fired in droves since the onset of the nationwide union drive, per Vice. The repercussions for union advocacy were even more serious for a handful of New York City Chipotle workers and allies (including Senator Ramos), who marched up 6th Avenue in Manhattan on Thursday demanding a $20 minimum wage and better working conditions, Bloomberg reports.
Matt Arnold had done nothing wrong when a staff member approached him at the Sainsbury’s East Dulwich checkout. He had scanned his items, tapped his Nectar card, and was told he couldn’t be served...