Todd Maisel/New York Daily News
Mayor de Blasio is set to sign an executive order Tuesday to expand the city’s “living wage” promise to thousands more workers — and remove certain exemptions to the legislation that initially created it.
Under the order, tenants at commercial projects that get hefty city subsidies will have to pay employees who don’t receive benefits the so-called living wage, which will be raised to $13.13, up from the current $11.90, officials familiar with the plan said.
The law was passed in 2012 as a compromise deal. It applies to developers who get more than $1 million in city subsidies — but excludes their tenants, meaning retail stores located in those buildings did not have to pay a living wage to their workers.
De Blasio criticized that aspect of the law and vowed in his first State of the City address earlier this year to expand the legislation. Those tenant businesses will now be subject to the law, a key demand of advocates who long campaigned for the requirement.
“I am thrilled by this,” said Stuart Appelbaum, head of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union. “Extending the living wage to cover tenants in buildings is crucial. It’s a tool for attacking income inequality in the city. I think for each family who is affected, this is a life-changing event.
The news was first reported by The New York Times. The paper, citing city officials, noted that about 4,000 of the 18,000 workers who could be affected work in retail or fast-food jobs and make near the state minimum wage of $8 per hour. The boost would mean about $10,000 more per year.
The Hudson Yards project on the West Side, which was specifically carved out of the original bill, will also be covered in the new version, drafts of the plan show. But manufacturing businesses, small businesses making less than $3 million a year, and some grocery stores will remain exempt.
An analysis by City Controller Scott Stringer found that a $13.13 minimum would generate $6 billion a year in new wages and give 1.2 million New Yorkers $100 more in their weekly paycheck.
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