Long Island immigrant workers, small business owners, and faith and communities leaders will rally and march in downtown Babylon to urge Long Island senators to support state legislation that will increase New York’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50 an hour.
Advocates and community members will be requesting a meeting with Senator Owen Johnson, whose district contains a high percentage of minimum wage earners, and who has yet to give a definitive opinion on this issue or to sign on to the legislation.
Workers, faith leaders, and small business owners in Long Island agree that increasing the minimum wage is not only the right thing to do for working families in New York, but it will also benefit Long Island communities by boosting local spending.
New York’s state legislature has not voted to raise the minimum wage since 2004. As a result, New York’s minimum wage is stuck at the federal minimum wage of just $7.25 an hour, equivalent to roughly $15,000 a year for full-time work.
Who:
—Immigrant workers who earn minimum wage
—Faith leaders, including Pastor Marvin Lozano, Alianza of Pastors of Long Island, and Pastor Pablo Torres, Centro Evangelistico Nueva Vida
—Santiago Reyes, small business owner of Restaurante Comalapa
—Fernando Verillet, small business owner of BMC Auto Tech, Inc.
—Representatives from Long Island community and labor organizations
Where:
Babylon train station (corner of Depot Place and Railroad Avenue)
When:
Thursday May 24 at 5pm
This event is a collaboration between the following community, labor, and faith-based organizations:
Long Island Federation of Labor, Long Island Immigrant Alliance, Long Island Jobs with Justice, Long Island Pastors Association, Make the Road New York, New York Communities for Change, RWDSU Local 1102, RWDSU Local 338, 1199 SEIU, and the Workplace Project
Karina Claudio-Betancourt is a community organizer for Make the Road New York.
