Thanks to the hard work of the Connecticut Fight for $15 coalition, which includes the Connecticut AFL-CIO, more than 330,000 working people across the state will be getting a raise. The state legislature recently passed a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2023, and Gov. Ned Lamont signed it this morning.
"We applaud Gov. Ned Lamont and the legislature for doing the right thing and raising wages for over 330,000 workers in our state," said Sal Luciano, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. "Workers who earn more pay more in income taxes, spend more disposable income in the local economy, and are less reliant on safety net services, saving taxpayer dollars for other investments. Raising wages will help boost the Connecticut economy."
The increase makes Connecticut the seventh state to adopt a $15 per hour minimum wage, including the neighboring states of New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey.
A number of union members now in the state legislature aided in this victory, specifically, the co-chairs of the Labor and Public Employees Committee: state Sen. Julie Kushner, former UAW Region 9A director, and state Rep. Robyn Porter, who was once a single mother who worked three jobs to make ends meet.
The new law raises the minimum wage from its current level of $10.10 to:
- $11.00 on October 1, 2019;
- $12.00 on September 1, 2020;
- $13.00 on August 1, 2021;
- $14.00 on July 1, 2022; and
- $15.00 on June 1, 2023.