LA increases minimum wage to $15 per hour

On Tuesday, Los Angeles voted to increase the minimum wage from $9 to $15 per hour by 2020. At $15 per hour, this pay rate will provide one adult with an income above a living wage, which stands at $12.34 in Los Angeles County.
Meanwhile in Massachusetts, the minimum wage will increase to only $11 per hour by 2017, far below a living wage for one adult living in Boston, which is calculated to require at least $13.71 per hour.

To see what the living wage in your area is, visit http://livingwage.mit.edu/.

New York Governor Hopes to Increase the Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers

After the New York legislature failed to raise the statewide minimum wage, Governor Cuomo unilaterally directed the state labor commissioner to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to a liveable wage
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/11/nyregion/cuomos-push-to-raise-wages-lifts-spirits-of-new-yorks-fast-food-workers.html?_r=0

"The Price of Nice Nails"

The New York Times recently published an article that looks into the practices of nail salons in NYC. The article details the work environment and pay of manicurists in the city, finding extensive exploitation of the workers, who are underpaid and often abused. For example, in one Harlem location manicurists were charged to drink water on the job. Even worse, they often were not even paid on "slow days."
To read the full article, see http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html?_r=0.

A subsequent article looks at the health risks workers in these salons facehttp://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/10/nyregion/at-nail-salons-in-nyc-manicurists-are-underpaid-and-unprotected.html?_r=0.