Thursday, November 29, 2007
'Living
Wage' for Everyone
By Dan Boyd
Journal
Staff Writer
Santa Fe's "noble experiment," as one observer called it Wednesday,
will take another step into the future on Jan. 1, 2008.
City councilors approved broadening the city's trailblazing
"living wage" law to all workers by a unanimous vote, drawing hearty
applause from an overflow crowd that overwhelming supported forging ahead with
the country's highest minimum wage.
Opposition to the changes had largely dissipated leading up
to Wednesday's vote as union leaders, business groups, school officials and
immigrants rights groups all threw their support behind the proposal.
After more than 50 people, many of them high school
students, had voiced their support, city officials acknowledged the
significance of the vote.
"I think in 100 years or so, philosophers, poets and
historians are going to read the minutes of the living wage and get a lot out
of it," Mayor David Coss said. "We're a national example."
But the law only applies to businesses that employ 25 or
more workers, or about 60 percent of the city's work force. Such a loophole has
made enforcement difficult, proponents of the change said, and created an
uneven playing field.
The new living wage law will require all businesses,
regardless of how many workers they have, to pay at least $9.50 per hour. The
ordinance will also implement yearly minimum wage increases, starting in
January 2009, based on the Consumer Price Index.
Rumors had swirled leading up to Wednesday's vote that
councilors might move to exempt young people or disabled workers from receiving
the super-sized minimum wage. In response, local students helped gather more
than 4,000 signatures in opposition to any exemption.
Those fears, however, never materialized.
When Councilor Ronald Trujillo cast the final vote shortly
after
The rate had been slated to increase once again on
While skeptics had predicted the city's economy would suffer
with the increased minimum wage, preliminary studies have shown the city's
economy has actually grown since the law was passed.
"We debunked the myths about what was going to
happen," Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger said.
But certain concerns remain. Despite the popularity of Santa
Fe's living wage law, the high cost of housing continues to force many local
workers to commute daily from outside the city.
And despite the fact most business owners now support the
law, some still harbor doubts.
Joe Cieszinski, who owns a religious bookstore on St.
Michael's Drive, was the lone opponent of the changes proposed Wednesday night.
Paying all his employees at least $9.50 per hour will
decrease his taxable income by $10,000 annually and preclude him from hiring
more workers, Cieszinski said.
"It will be very, very hard for me and others to be in
existence if this passes," he told councilors.
To most in the crowd, however, such words rang hollow.
Emily Franklin, also a small business owner and the co-chair
of the local Green Party, welcomed the broadening of the living wage with open
arms.
"It is not a hardship, it is a responsibility to pay a
living wage to my employees," Franklin said.
Dozens of students also said a higher minimum wage will help
them save for college and break out of poverty's grasp.
To city councilors, some of whom had been skeptical about
the ordinance's impact, such testimonies reinforced the living wage's original
point.
And starting Jan. 1, size doesn't matter.