SAN FRANCISCO — The push for a higher minimum wage gained momentum on both sides of the country Wednesday, with New York embracing an eventual $15 an hour for the state’s 200,000 fast-food workers and the huge University of California system announcing the same raise for its employees.

“How we support our workers and their families impacts Californians who might never set foot on one of our campuses,” said UC President Janet Napolitano, who oversees 10 campuses, including UCLA and Berkeley. “It’s the right thing to do.”

The 240,000-student University of California becomes the nation’s largest public university to commit itself to the $15-an-hour wage that has become the rallying cry of many labor groups in recent months.

So far, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley have approved phased-in increases that eventually will take their minimum wage to $15 an hour, or about $31,200 a year. On Tuesday, Los Angeles County, the nation’s most populous county, voted to craft a law to do the same over five years.

In Portland, Maine, the City Council has been wrestling with whether to implement a minimum wage, while the Green Independent Committee has collected enough signatures to force a November referendum question asking residents to adopt a $15 an hour wage by 2019.

In New York, the state Wage Board endorsed a proposal to set a $15 minimum wage for workers at fast-food restaurants with 30 or more locations. The increase would be phased in over three years in New York City and over six years elsewhere.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration has the final say, and he has signaled his support. New York would become the first state to single out a specific industry for such an increase. The state minimum wage is now $8.75.

“You cannot live and support a family on $18,000 a year in the state of New York – period,” Cuomo said at a New York City rally celebrating the proposal. “This is just the beginning. We will not stop until we reach true economic justice.”

Restaurant owners warned that higher wages could force them to raise prices, cut employee hours and hire fewer workers, and they said they may challenge the move in court.

“Singling out fast-food restaurants while ignoring other industries that hire workers who are paid under $15 is unfair and discriminatory,” said Jack Bert, who owns seven McDonald’s restaurants in New York City.

But Rebecca Cornick, a 60-year-old woman who makes $9 an hour at a Wendy’s in Brooklyn, said: “If I made $15, I could pay my rent on time, I could put food on the table, I could hold my head up.”

The higher minimum-wage argument has gained traction amid concerns over the shrinking middle class and rising income inequality.

Supporters argue a higher wage floor will help lift the working poor into the middle class. Opponents warn higher wages will kill jobs and lead to higher prices.

Sixteen states have passed laws barring local governments from setting their own minimum wage.

Democrats have said they support a higher federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour.


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