Editorial
A Living Wage, Long Overdue
Published: December 25, 2011 - New York Times
New York City provides hundreds of millions of dollars a year in
taxpayer-financed subsidies to private developers. It is only right that the
jobs created by those projects pay a decent wage. The Fair Wages for New Yorkers
Act, widely known as the living-wage bill, would nudge these employers in the
right direction.
The bill now before the City Council would require future development
projects that receive $1 million or more in discretionary financial assistance
from the city to pay $10 an hour plus benefits for full-time workers and $11.50
an hour without benefits for at least 10 years. That may not be much, but it is
an improvement over the minimum wage of $7. 25 an hour.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg is fighting this change, arguing that a wage increase
might scare off new developments and cost the city thousands of lower-paying
jobs. That has not been the experience elsewhere.
A similar law enacted in 2003 in Los Angeles requires companies receiving
city subsidies to pay workers $10.42 an hour or $11.67 without benefits. Despite
warnings that the city would lose projects, Donald Spivack, a development
official in Los Angeles, said at a Council hearing last month that those
predictions were wrong and that he was unaware of any project that was canceled
because of the wage requirement. The Center for American Progress found
that 15 cities with living wage laws, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia,
Cleveland and San Francisco, ghad the same levels of employment growthh as other
similar cities without the requirements.
Mayor Bloombergfs arguments against this modest wage increase contrast with
his endorsement of a 2002 city law that now sets a minimum of $10 an hour for
about 60,000 workers employed by service contractors hired by the city, many of
them home health care workers. Home care workers got a similar increase as part
of Gov. Andrew Cuomofs Medicaid redesign this year.
The City Council has revised the bill after earlier criticisms that it was
confusing and too restrictive. It now has clear exemptions for manufacturers and
smaller businesses with revenues of less than $5 million. The billfs sponsors
should also consider exempting grocery stores in areas that need fresh food
markets. That said, this bill makes sense. A wage of $10 an hour would help lift
thousands of New Yorkers above the poverty line.