ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Mayor Buddy Dyer announced on Tuesday that nearly 300 full and part-time Orlando city employees will have their pay increased to a minimum of $15-an-hour.
The increases are expected to happen over the next couple of years. According to the Orlando Sentinel, all full-and part-time city employees who make less than $15-an-hour "will be looped into contracts for the Service Employees International Union, Laborers' International Union of North America and International Association of Fire Fighters."
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Gate attendants, office and recreation assistants, and maintenance workers are among the jobs that will see the pay increases.
"We've been wanting to go to $15 an hour for a couple of years, but we were locked into three-year union contracts," Dyer said.
The city's responsible contractor policy will also require a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Employees who make more than $15 per hour will have their pay adjusted accordingly.
The raises will begin this year, bumping pay up to $13, $14 in 2020, and $15 in 2021.
Over three years, the total cost is about $3.3 million, said Cassandra Lafser, a spokeswoman for Dyer.
Dyer is seeking reelection against nonprofit consultant Aretha Simons and City Commissioner Sam Ings.