A protest to raise the minimum wage drew hundreds to the state capitol in Albany on Monday and included a brief occupation of the building’s Dunkin Donuts. Governor Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers are considering hiking the minimum wage in the new budget, but protesters say it is not enough.
The protesters, who have been holding rallies every week, stepped up their efforts when around 100 stormed into the capitol’s Dunkin Donuts and demanded that the state’s minimum wage be raised to $15 an hour. Dunkin Donuts is advertising jobs with a starting salary of $9 an hour, which is the state’s current minimum wage, says the Strong Economy for All coalition’s Michael Kink.
“The workers chose $15, because they feel that it would make a real difference in their lives,” Kink said.
The protesters, chanting “we’ll be back,” left peacefully when state police arrived and asked them to exit the restaurant. Governor Cuomo is proposing raising the state’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour, $10.50 upstate, and he’s received backing from dozens of religious leaders. The state Assembly wants to phase in a $15 an hour wage in New York City by 2018.
