The Albuquerque City Council will be debating the merits of a Minimum Wage Ordinance tomorrow night, April 20th at 6pm.
To remind folks, in 2005 a minimum wage bill was narrowly (and we mean *narrowly*) defeated at the polls in Albuquerque. SWOP supported that bill, which provided an immediate increase to $7.50 in 2007 and it indexed the wage to the cost of living. That bill was placed on the ballot due to a petition drive that gathered more than 30,000 signatures after the city council refused to pass a minimum wage ordinance. Along with others, we believe it was defeated at the polls because of a controversial access provision, but at the same time the turn out of registered voters was very poor.
The proposed ordinance to be heard tomorrow night is incredibly watered down compared to last year’s bill: it phases in the new minimum wage over three years to ultimately reach $7.50 in 2009, and it includes NO indexing to inflation.
Opponents of the bill, as watered down as it is, assert that a raise in the wage would drive businesses out of the city. We say this is nonsense. Minimum wage jobs are overwhelmingly service oriented and will remain in the city.
Opponents of the bill also state that raising the wage will make it harder to provide health benefits, and that companies will choose to decrease benefits. According to the Trib, Cadigan will introduce an amended bill that allows credits for health and child care benefits...in other words, the value of providing those benefits can be considered part of the wage. This is modeled on Santa Fe's living wage ordinance. Here's my question: Do any of you think any of these people have EVER supported themselves or their families on the minimum wage? People who work at poverty wages NEED cash in hand in order to eat well, pay their rent, provide for their transportation...Rather than pass a minimum wage bill that lets the value of benefits be subtracted from the hourly wage, the Council ought to work toward developing a system of UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE for all Albuquerque residents.
Albuquerque workers deserve an immediate raise in the minimum wage to $7.50 per hour PLUS health and other benefits. They also deserve cost of living adjustments. We believe Heinrich's ordinance being heard tomorrow night compromises too much,
and we strongly believe that a good bill can win in October.
# posted by marjorie @ 9:46 AM
