Labor

Study: Low-wage workers won $60M in raises since 2012

As the Fight for $15 celebrates its fourth anniversary Tuesday with protests in 340 cities around the country, a new study finds low-wage workers have earned more than $60 million in raises.

The progressive National Employment Law Project reported that 19 million workers have won raises in places like New York, California, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

The federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 per hour, but state and local governments are allowed to raise it further in their communities. A number of companies like McDonalds and Walmart has also hiked pay for their own employees across the country.

The result is $61.5 million in raises since the protests began in November 2012, according to the National Employment Law Project.

The study points out that is 12 times more money than workers received as a result of Congress raising the minimum wage to $7.25 in 2007.

“The Fight for $15’s impact towers over past congressional action,” Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said in a statement.

“As a result, workers have been fighting for and winning much bigger raises for much more of the workforce than ever before,” she added.

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