The organization behind D.C.’s overturned Initiative 77 plans to hold similar strikes across the country this week.

The pay increase will be the first since 2014, affecting thousands of workers in D.C. and elsewhere.

The coronavirus pandemic has prompted business groups to fight mandated increases to the minimum wage. But they’re facing resistance from unions, who say workers need a raise now more than ever.

Less than a decade ago, D.C.’s lowest-wage workers were paid $8.25 an hour. Starting Wednesday, the city’s minimum wage will hit a new milestone: $15.

Virginia’s minimum wage is expected to rise to $12 in 2023 after lawmakers in the General Assembly approved a compromise wage hike on Sunday.

About 100,000 people are affected by the increase.

“D.C. now is a totally different landscape than what it was when we opened up in 2004.”

It increases the hourly tipped wage from $3.89 to $15 over seven years.

The tipped minimum wage has also gone up, but not to $15 yet.

It’s difficult to determine how many tipped workers are in D.C., and what share of them are in the restaurant industry.