Orlando City Council votes Monday to increase minimum wage to $15

Increase would happen over three years

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer may get his way Monday if City Council approves raising the minimum wage for all city employees to $15/hour by 2021. It’s something Dyer said he’s been pushing for years.

“If somebody has to work two jobs to simply make a living wage and put food on their table, it’s a very difficult situation,” Dyer said.

The increase will affect some city maintenance workers and parks and recreations employees, and among others, according to city officials.

“It helps in every possible way. Talk about affordable housing issues, mobility issues,” Dyer said.

Pending Monday’s City Council vote, all part-time, full-time and seasonal city workers who aren’t making $15/hour now will see a staggering increase over the next three years. Wages would jump from $13 per hour in 2019 to $14 in 2020 and then $15 per hour by 2021.

Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill said it would be a win for workers.

“We’re going far above what the minimum wage is here in the State of Florida to make sure that all of our employees have living wage incomes,” Hill said.

On Wednesday, Dyer shared his plans to revitalize downtown at his State of Downtown address. On that same note, many downtown business owners say the city’s wage increases makes them want to consider following suit, while other say it's just not feasible. 

City workers who already make $15 an hour would also see a slight increase.

The Florida minimum wage will also increase to $8.46 on Jan. 1.

Check back Monday to find out the results of the vote.


About the Author:

Jerry Askin is an Atlanta native who came to News 6 in March 2018 with an extensive background in breaking news.