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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2002)
Living wage ordinance debate delayed ^tailing the discussion may prevent the ordinance from being passed; law would affect part-time city workers Jillian Daley Family/Health/Education Reporter City of Eugene staff are analyzing the impact of a proposed living wage ordinance, but the council has pushed discussion of the issue from November to a January work session. The session switch moves the or dinance from the beginning of the budget season, where it would be in cluded in city planning, to next year, giving the budget committee the dis cretion to cut the ordinance if they so choose. “We feel that it is an obvious ma neuver by the city administration to stall and prevent the living wage from being passed,” Eugene-Spring field Solidarity Network organizer Sarah Jacobson said. On Aug. 12,City Council mem bers discussed the proposal during the first work session held in Eugene concerning the living wage. At the work session, the council voted unanimously to develop a city wage ordinance. “It’s the quintessential economic development strategy,” City Coun cilor Bonny Bettman, Ward 1, said at the session. Bettman said raising city wages keeps money in the local economy, which is a sound strategy for alleviating the current recession. In 1994, the first living wage law was passed in Baltimore, and since then, more than 80 other cities have passed similar standards. A living wage law is not a federal standard like the minimum wage. It usually focuses almost solely on full-time city workers. However, the proposed ordinance would focus primarily on temporary and part-time city workers, who of ten receive lower pay. The inclusive nature of the ordinance is one of the reasons City Councilor Scott Meis ner, Ward 7, chose to support it. The proposed ordinance would also increase the income of employ ees of businesses that have a contract with the city, as well as employees of 01034/ rmu, www.cdwebwqrld.com D WORLD Offer good through Oct. 27, 2002 Limited to stock on hand. Not valid with other discounts or offers. While supplies last. ADVERTISE* GET RESULTS* Oregon Daily Emerald 346-3712 businesses that receive significant fi nancial aid from the city. During the work session, City Councilor Nancy Nathanson, Ward 8, raised questions about the pro posed ordinance but eventually rose in support of the proposal. The effort to push the proposal, led chiefly by the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network, has been devel oping for some time. Jacobson told the Emerald on Aug. 21 that at first the group thought the living wage should be only a few dollars above the mini mum wage, but as Eugene’s cost of living has risen, so have ESSN’s stan dards for its living wage proposal. Jacobson said that a study done by the Economic Policy Institute helped provide more impetus for new legislation. The findings showed that a one-adult, one-child family has to earn more than two times the federal poverty level to be making enough to sustain themselves. Because it is hard to determine a living wage value, the EPI compared it to the poverty level of the adult child, two-person family. The 1.2 percent was less period. Paying the wage Currently, 83 cities and counties in the United States have living wage standards in place, and 75 new campaigns are under way. Statistics gathered after the 1994 Baltimore Livina Waae Ordinance was passed have shown « Costs did not increase significant! than the rate of inflation for the same * The administrative cost of monitoring and enforcement was less than I 7 cents per taxpayer per year. • Employers reported that the cost of raising wages was offset by lower employee turnover rates. SOURCE: Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network The EPI’s study listed $11.42 per hour with health care benefits as an appropriate wage for a one-adult, one-child family. The ESSN used these findings to set the wage standard for the pro posed legislation and to determine what issues are at stake. “There are two issues,” Universi ty labor education instructor Lynn Feekin told the Emerald on Aug. 21. “One, it’s an issue of fairness, and two, it’s an issue of accountability around the use of tax dollars.” Feekin said more tax dollars should support city workers rather than be ing poured into city projects. “It’s very hard to gauge where this is going,” Feekin said. “I assume that there will be many issues that follow, but at this point we’re at the begin ning of the process.” Contact the news reporter atjilliandaley@dailyemerald.com. —— OUT OF ALL THE POPULAR CUTS WE COULD GIVE YOU, THE HOST POPULAR IS THE PRICE CUT. INTRODUCING NEW ALA CARTE PRICING. Perhaps all you want is a haircut. 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