U.S. President Joe Biden has used an executive order to raise the minimum wage for hundreds of thousands of federal contract workers to $15 an hour.
The presidential order increases the current minimum wage of $10.95 by nearly 37% and links future increases to the rate of inflation.
The new $15 minimum wage applies to federal workers from cleaning and maintenance staff to food service contractors and laborers. White House officials insist that it won't increase costs for taxpayers because of benefits such as increased worker productivity.
Biden has expressed his belief that strong unions and higher wages can resurrect America's middle class and bridge economic and racial inequities, and the executive order is his latest step in support of the organized labor movement.
Biden also signed an executive order to create a White House task force that will promote unions and labor organizing, which will be headed by Vice President Kamala Harris. The move was a significant attempt to use the federal government's resources to help stem a decline in union membership in the U.S.
Biden tried to insert a federal $15 minimum wage into his $1.9-trillion COVID-19 relief bill signed into law in March, but it was tossed out a procedural issue by the U.S. Senate.
The move to hike base wages for federal contractors builds on an executive order issued by former U.S. President Barack Obama, which required federal contractors to be paid $10.10 an hour indexed to inflation. That rate now stands at $10.95 an hour.
Biden's latest executive order requires all federal agencies to include the minimum wage increase in employment contracts by January 30, 2022.
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