LIVING WAGE COALITION IN THE NEWS

Study Bolsters Living Wage
Benefits Outweigh Deficits, Coalition Claims During Forum In Santa Rosa

September 22, 2002

By JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Activists pressing Santa Rosa to adopt a higher minimum hourly wage for
city workers and contractors unveiled a new study Saturday that said the
cost to the city would be minimal and would be outweighed by benefits
including greater worker productivity.

Local supporters of the nationwide "living wage" movement also promised a
battle against the "Goliath" of Santa Rosa's Chamber of Commerce. They said
their cause would be a litmus test for political candidates in upcoming
elections in Santa Rosa and possibly Petaluma.

"This is an election issue, and no one will get elected without taking a
stand on it," said Marty Bennett, a Santa Rosa Junior College labor
historian and co-chairman of the Living Wage Coalition of Sonoma County. He
spoke at a forum at Santa Rosa Junior College attended by about 100 people,
including political candidates from Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Sebastopol.

"At some point, we're going to have to stand up to the Santa Rosa Chamber
of Commerce and say, 'You used to run this town, but you don't any more,'
because they don't represent working people," said former county supervisor
Ernie Carpenter.

Chamber officials had spoken out against the coalition's earlier proposal
for a living wage ordinance, which the Santa Rosa City Council in December
voted not to study further. Chamber President Mike Hauser could not be
reached for comment Saturday.

The coalition hopes to submit a revised ordinance following the November
election. The new study, authored by the U.C. Berkeley Center for Labor
Research and Education, said the ordinance would affect about 400 full- and
part-time workers in Santa Rosa and about 70 in Petaluma. It found, based
on studies of other cities, that living wage ordinances increase total city
budgets by less than 1 percent, said Peter Hall, the center's director.

About 80 cities and counties nationwide, including 18 in California, have
adopted ordinances mandating minimum hourly wages plus benefits for their
employees of between $7.25 and $13.

Bennett said the coalition will likely ask Petaluma's council, before the
election, to consider adopting a living wage ordinance. "The analysis
they've put together shows the fiscal impact on Petaluma would be
manageable and minor," said Petaluma Councilman Mike Healy, who is running
for re-election and said he'd support such an ordinance.

The proposal earlier rejected in Santa Rosa called for a minimum pay for
city workers of $15 an hour with benefits, or $16.75 without benefits. The
proposal applied also to nonprofit agencies and contractors who do business
with the city.

Councilwoman Marsha Vas Dupre on Saturday characterized the four council
members who voted against further study as being "aligned with the Chamber
of Commerce." "This again, we cannot allow to happen," she said.

Councilwoman Janet Condron, who is up for re-election and in December
strongly opposed the proposed ordinance, said Saturday that because "more
and more communities are doing it... I'm not so totally opposed to the
concept as I once was." She reiterated earlier objections that the city
can't afford to adopt such a plan when it has other "desperate" needs, such
as paying for police and firefighters.

The coalition's revised proposal lowers the required minimum to $12.25 an
hour, or $14 without benefits.It would exempt businesses that do business
with the city but have six or fewer employees; grant a three-year grace
period to nonprofit groups; and exclude student interns and seasonal
workers such as lifeguards and camp counselors.

Condron, who wasn't at Saturday's meeting, said nonprofits would have to be
excluded and the required minimum lowered for the plan to warrant further
attention.

"We're finding out this is not a budget-buster for municipalities," said
Michael Allen, president of the North Bay Labor Council and general manager
of Service Employees International Union Local 707, the county's largest
union.

"This is a just cause," said Rev. Thomas Kimball of First United Methodist
Church in Santa Rosa. "No one who works for a day's pay should struggle in
poverty."

You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay at 521-5212 or jhay@pressdemocrat.com.

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LIVING WAGE COALITION OF SONOMA COUNTY
Phone: 707-623-7395
Email: livingwagesoco@gmail.com
PO Box 427
Santa Rosa, CA 95402