Gillum, Morgan to continue push for $15 minimum wage

large companies are recognizing that when workers make a living wage, businesses and the economy thrive,” spokeswoman Carlie Weibel wrote in an email. “While these raises show we are making progress on lifting up working Floridians, Mayor Gillum will not stop fighting until all of Florida’s workers are guaranteed a $15 minimum wage.”

Morgan, an Orlando attorney, has been pushing to put an amendment on the 2020 ballot since December, when he began pouring $478,000 into Florida for a Fair Wage to gather petitions. The measure would gradually increase the state’s minimum wage, which currently stands at $8.25 and is tied to inflation, to $15 per hour by 2026. The federal minimum wage is $7.25.

But Morgan hasn’t put any money into the committee since April and it hasn’t paid petition gatherers since then either. Still, he says he’s not letting up in his push for the ballot measure.

“We will make this the law for all of Florida soon!” Morgan posted on Twitter when the Amazon news was reported.

Gillum wants to get the minimum wage to $15 sooner than 2026.

“Mayor Gillum thinks the best solution to fairly compensate minimum wage workers and inject billions of dollars into Florida’s economy would be working with the state Legislature to increase Florida’s minimum wage to $15 as soon as possible,” Weibel said.

Gillum’s GOP opponent, former U.S. Rep Ron DeSantis, hasn’t mentioned the minimum wage on the campaign trail but has talked about continuing Florida’s economic progress by cutting taxes. His campaign did not directly respond to questions about his position on the minimum wage.

Amazon’s move was part of a recent trend for major employers. Disney reached an agreement in August with several unions to pay its employees $15 per hour by 2021. Walmart in January said it would increase its base pay for workers to $11 an hour, following Target’s announcement last year that it would do the same while also aiming to reach a $15 starting pay rate by 2020. In May, Costco said it would move to a $14.50 per hour starting wage for its workers.

Some employers cited the tax cut bill passed by Republicans last December as part of the reason for the wage increases, but as unemployment has dropped large companies are fighting over a shrinking labor pool to attract workers.

Momentum for an increase in the minimum wage has grown among labor activists since the Great Recession but still faces an uphill climb in Florida.

Even if Gillum wins the governor’s race, he’ll have a difficult time getting a minimum wage increase through a Legislature that is likely to remain in Republican control. If they refuse to take up a minimum wage hike, he will back Morgan’s amendment or a similar ballot measure, Weibel said.