SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle activists celebrated a successful campaign to gradually increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 by calling for a national movement to close the income and opportunity gaps between rich and poor.
The Seattle City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday that would give the city the highest minimum wage in the nation.
Socialist City Council Member Kshama Sawant, who after the council meeting called on the people of America to elect more independent and socialist candidates, said the push for a higher minimum wage is spreading across the nation.
“Seattle may be a hippie city. We may wear socks with our sandals,” but it’s also a city where different progressive groups can work together to bring about change, Sawant said.
The minimum wage issue has dominated politics in the liberal municipality for months, and a boisterous crowd of mostly labor activists packed the council chambers for the vote. They held signs that said “15 Now,” chanted, cheered and occasionally jeered when amendments they favored were voted down.
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