Mayor Frank Jackson is raising the minimum wage for all employees in the City of Cleveland.
The mayor announced the hourly wage for city employees would go up to $15 per hour and is scheduled to go into effect next April.
"I have made a decision to increase all of our regular full-time and part-time employees, both union and non-union earning less than $15 an hour, up to a $15 hourly rate," said Mayor Jackson. "Because we have union contract covering the majority of our employees, this $15 per hour minimum rate will need to be discussed with those unions prior to implementation."
The increase affects 500 of the city's 7,196 employees. The City projects an investment of $1.9 million and will negotiate 34 union contracts to put the plan into action.
But a new study is casting doubts on the benefits of a minimum wage increase.
RELATED: New study casts doubt on the benefit of Seattle's $15 minimum wage
Seattle voted in 2014 to gradually increase its minimum wage to $15 per hour, but the wage hike shows it may be hurting workers. According to researchers at the University of Washington, when wages went up to $13 per hour in 2016, low-wage workers saw a 9% drop in their hours worked.
Still, some in Seattle are citing success stories based on the minimum-wage increase. One single mother of three who works at Domino's says she is now able to pay her bills without having to work 55 hours per week, according to CNN.
CNN also cites a local Seattle business owner who claims she has increase employees hours since the minimum wage hike.
However, Mayor Jackson says if the minimum wage increase take effect in Cleveland only, and does not spread nationwide or even statewide, it could potentially result in businesses and jobs moving to other cities in the region that offer lower rates.
