The Assembly Majority has long been a champion of workers' rights, chief among them, a worker's right to a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. We believe that poverty is not a fair reward for those who work a full-time job. This agreement, which will gradually raise the minimum wage to $9 an hour in 2015, is a victory for those hardworking men and women who do the jobs that are essential to our local businesses and to our ability to provide human services, but whose salaries have not kept pace with the cost of living. With this agreement, we are taking a significant step toward rewarding hard work with a wage that people can live on. New Yorkers have spoken and their government has heeded their call to raise the minimum wage.