New York (AFP) - New York's Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo has reached an agreement with the state legislature to raise the minimum wage in New York City to $15 an hour.
It was the latest in a series of local initiatives to lift the lowest wage Americans earn above the national floor of $7.25 an hour, which has remained unchanged since 2009.
Reached Thursday, it came three days after California's state legislature struck a similar deal to lift the western state's minimum wage to $15 an hour.
In a statement, Cuomo said the hike would benefit 2.3 million people in New York, which currently has a minimum wage of $9 an hour.
Under the agreement, the minimum wage will be raised to $15 in New York City for workers at firms that employ 10 or more people by the end of 2018.
The minimum will go up more slowly in the rest of the state, reaching $12.50 by the end of 2020.
Workers at fast-food restaurants first began demanding a living wage more than two years ago.
Cuomo, who came late to the fight, won passage in July of $15 an hour wages for fast-food workers in New York City.
In early November, he said he was extending the $15 an hour minimum to all state workers.
Thursday's deal involved getting the state's Republican-controlled Senate on board with the higher minimum as part of a broader budget package.
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