While the recent 10 cent increase in the state minimum wage may indeed provide modest assistance to low-wage workers and their families, many wonder if the pay they receive will ever amount to a so-called ‘living wage.’
In their announcement about the increase at a press conference on Monday, July 27, New York State Labor Department officials expressed hope that the floor salary increase would cause the salaries of those making slightly greater than the $7.25 per hour mark to subsequently bump up. But according to Queens residents Raul Bedoya and Alfredo León, two employees of Nelson Cleaning Services who work at a Con Edison plant on 14th Street in Manhattan, this has not been the case. While minimum wage earners saw a slight increase, their salaries remained stagnant at $8.50 an hour.
“It’s not enough,” said León, a Guatemalan immigrant who lives near Francis Lewis Boulevard in Hollis, “for the train, the bus, the food, and the rent.”
León added that, while he works and is paid for eight hours a day, he spends a total of four more hours traveling daily.
“I receive food stamps to make up for it a little,” said Bedoya, a Peruvian immigrant and resident of Elmhurst. His wife also works, and together they are just barely able to support their daughter. “It isn’t right that a person who is working eight hours a day doesn’t earn a sufficient salary to survive.”
In addition, León added, their jobs provide them with no benefits, no health insurance, and only five vacation days a year. As a result, they contacted 32BJ SEIU, which represents over 50,000 building services workers in New York alone. While Bedoya, León and about 30 other Nelson employees at the Con Ed plant are now members of the union, Nelson has refused to recognize it.
“We’re going to continue to fight with these workers no matter what,” said Kwame Patterson, a representative of 32BJ SEIU. “Hopefully, Con Ed and Nelson will work with us on that.”
