New York to raise state minimum wage to $15 for fast-food workers

People celebrate the passage of the minimum wage for fast-food workers by the New York State Fast Food Wage Board during a rally in New York July 22, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Seattle and San Francisco also have increased minimum wages in recent years.

A statewide wage increase for fast-food workers as opposed to city-based would be a first, said the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit advocacy group.

The rise to $15 an hour marks a major step from New York's current minimum wage of $8.75.

"I feel fabulous," said Harley Perez, 19, who work 30 hours a week at a fast-food restaurant but depends on food stamps to get by.

"I won't have this chokehold with bills, and I won't need to depend so much on the government for help," she said.

Sixty percent of New York's fast-food workers rely on some form of public benefit to supplement their earnings, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute.

The increase would be phased in, taking effect by the end of 2018 in New York City and by July 1, 2021, in the rest of the state.

Business groups and other critics slammed the decision as discriminatory because it singles out one industry, and legal challenges are expected.