Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton earned high praise from big labor after endorsing New York’s new $15 wage that threatens to close hundreds of small businesses.
Clinton endorsed on Friday the decision from Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo’s three-member panel to hike starting wages at all fast food establishments from the statewide minimum of $8.25 per hour to $15 an hour, a 70 percent increase.
“The national minimum wage needs to be raised. The cost of living in Manhattan is different than Little Rock and many other places. New York or Los Angeles or Seattle are right to go higher,” Clinton said at a campaign event touting Wall Street reforms on Friday.
The former secretary of state had previously praised the efforts of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), a major Democratic donor that spent $20 million in 2014 on front groups protesting for $15 wages at McDonalds. Until Friday she had not explicitly endorsed the $15 minimum wage.
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