Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling on business leaders to voluntarily raise wages for workers in the city. NY1's Grace Rauh filed the following report.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is campaigning for a higher minimum wage, but he needs Albany lawmakers to OK the plan. Until that happens, he says business leaders need to step up and pay their employees more.
"This is the crucial need of our times," de Blasio said. "Companies across our city should move as quickly as possible to raise their minimum wage to over $13 an hour."
That would mean a hike of more than $4 from the current minimum wage in New York, which is $8.75 an hour.
The mayor pushed the idea in a speech for the Association for a Better New York, telling a room packed with business leaders that they need to hire workers from neighborhoods around the city and pay them better.
"I need you, we all need you, to take responsibility for providing the great people of this city with the opportunities, the better wages and the chances of advancement that they need and they deserve," de Blasio said.
The mayor also called on investors and lenders to put their money into companies that pay higher wages, arguing that financial industry leaders should be using their power to benefit middle-class, working-class and low-income families.
The mayor's voluntary wage hike pitch did get some applause, but after the speech, Kathryn Wylde, the president of the city's leading business group, the Partnership for New York City, made it clear that her members need high-quality workers.
"Wages are ultimately tied to a skilled workforce," Wylde said. "A good job requires a good education, and that's where I think employers in the city can really partner."
She said there are 100,000 well-paying jobs available in the city, waiting for people with the right skill-set to fill them.
It is unclear whether the mayor's request will lead to any changes. So far, no companies have announced that they are heeding the mayor's call.