NEW YORK: Unions have been a driving force behind the wave of municipal minimum wage increases sweeping the country. But some unions want their own members exempt from coverage under those laws.
More than 20 U.S. cities and counties, recently including Los Angeles and Kansas City, Mo., have set minimum wages above state and federal levels.Some will eventually reach more than twice the federal rate of $7.25 an hour. In at least a half dozen of those communities, the pay floor ordinances include a provision allowing unions to waive the wage mandates as part of a collective bargaining agreement.
Unions, which have pledged to push forward on minimum wage increases at the local, state and federal levels, now face a choice seek to include clauses that could strengthen their bargaining power or drop them in the name of advocating for all workers, union members or otherwise.
The waiver remains a flash point in Los Angeles the largest city in the country to pass a $15 minimum wage with the City Council expected this fall to revisit the possibility of including the exemption.
