Two efforts that could lead to higher minimum wages took big steps last week.
On Friday, Denver Mayor Michael Hancock signed an ordinance that will raise the floor wage for both city workers and city contractors to $15 per hour. The move will give pay boosts to nearly 1,900 city workers — the vast majority of whom work in the parks and recreation department — and an undetermined amount of workers with companies that have about 300 contracts in place with Denver.
“The wage gap has kept people in poverty and threatens the ability of working families to meaningfully participate in the economic prosperity cities like Denver are experiencing,” Hancock said in a statement. “This proposal was a critical step we could take as a city to ensure all our residents have equitable access to opportunity in Denver.”
That move came four days after the Colorado House voted 40-24 to approve House Bill 1210, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Jovan Melton of Aurora and Rochelle Galindo of Greeley, which allows local governments to raise the minimum wage for businesses within their boundaries above the state’s minimum wage, which will raise to $12 per hour on Jan. 1. The vote was a Democratic-led partisan one except for Rep. Marc Snyder, D-Manitou Springs, who voted with Republicans against the bill.
Read more at the Denver Business Journal: https://bit.ly/2TeZrlm
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Feature stories from 9NEWS
