NYC nonprofit employees to de Blasio: Boost minimum wage for city-contracted workers

Nearly 1,000 employees at New York City nonprofits have signed on to a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio pushing for the city to establish a $17.50 per hour minimum wage for workers at city-funded nonprofits.

The letter says that the $15 minimum wage is insufficient given the high cost of living in New York City.

“We are doing some of the most important work in the City – educating children, caring for seniors, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, assisting recent immigrants, and so much more,” the letter reads. “In return, we deserve to earn a ‘living wage’ – i.e., the wage necessary to cover housing, food, child care, health insurance, transportation and other basic necessities.” It continues that the minimum wage should be $17.50 an hour, adjusting for inflation, and that the minimum wage for employees at city-funded organizations should continue to be adjusted for inflation in the future.

Union Settlement, a social services nonprofit, spearheaded the creation of the letter after it began to take steps to raise its minimum wage to $17.50 per hour with the use of private donations.

“We can’t sit by idly and watch our employees struggle, but we simply lack the capacity to sustain this over the long term, and need the City to step up,” David Nocenti, the nonprofit’s executive director, said in a statement.

The letter’s signatories include employees and executives at New York City nonprofits such as Children's Aid, Goddard Riverside, Sheltering Arms and WHEDco.

A report from Robin Hood and The Century Foundation released last month similarly also recommended city officials ensure that nonprofit human services workers make at least $21 an hour.