SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on Thursday proposed a phased-in increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour over the next seven years – a compromise endorsed by both business and labor that would make the city’s pay baseline the highest in the nation.
A group called 15 Now, led by socialist City Council member Kshama Sawant, wanted to see an immediate wage hike for large businesses and a three-year phase-in for organizations with fewer than 250 full-time employees. They are gathering signatures to get their competing $15 wage initiative on the November ballot.
The mayor’s proposal is the latest by cities and states nationwide to raise minimum wages. Last month, Minnesota raised the state’s guaranteed wage by more than $3, to $9.50, by 2016. California, Connecticut and Maryland also have passed laws increasing their respective wages to $10 or more in coming years, and other states are going well above the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour.
Seattle’s plan, if approved, would move it toward the highest wage in any U.S. city – San Francisco’s $10.55 an hour.
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