Gov. Charlie Baker's administration gave approval for a new contract that would increase pay of some 35,000 home care workers in Massachusetts to $15 per hour by 2018.

The agreement was announced on Friday with the union representing personal care attendants calls for a 30-cent raise on July 1.

The union stated that Massachusetts caregivers would be the first in the nation to reach that level.

Baker said in a statement that personal care attendants perfume crucial services by caring for seniors and disabled people in their homes.

As a result of the agreement, the union called off plans to protest outside the Statehouse next week. As per the agreement, home-care workers pay will rise from $13.38 an hour currently to $15 an hour in 2018.

Home care workers in Massachusetts differ from most other workers in the Fight for $15 movement because they are already unionized, having joined the Service Employees International Union in 2008.

Home care workers have their contract with the state because they are paid by MassHealth, the Massachusetts version of Medicaid.

Previous research has indicated that home care workers success serves as an important reminder that the Fight for $15 is not only about securing higher pay, but also about having the right to organize without retaliation.

It has also been shown that such unions are essential to reverse the long trend of flat or falling wages. Their success is also a blow to the persistent notion that paying workers more will make home care unaffordable for elderly and disabled clients.