N&R Column
Here is our column in today's News & Record (not available at their website):
According to Gandhi, one of the eight blunders of humanity is “commerce without morality.” A market economy may be able to provide benefits to a great many people, but if it acts without moral restraint, it tends to leave a great many people unable to afford life’s necessities. Rather than relying on taxpayers and charitable organizations to provide for the poor, it makes more sense for the law to give the poor a fair wage so they can provide for themselves. As the market raises the price of everyday goods from food to gasoline, it is unfair not to raise the minimum wage to allow everybody to afford these things. The Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance, which we seek to place before the City Council as a citizens’ initiative, aims to make a positive, democratic statement about the kind of community we want to live in. Should the Council reject the Ordinance, the voters will decide its fate this November.
Raising the minimum wage to a level that allows working people to provide for their basic necessities is a way that the citizens of Greensboro can show respect for working people and for the dignity of work. Some have argued that municipalities have no authority to set a minimum wage above that of the state or the federal government. The people of Santa Fe and San Francisco, however, have enacted higher minimum wages without a successful challenge in court. As citizens in a democracy, we have the power to help shape our community. Enacting the Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance sends a powerful message that we envision ourselves to be a community where no one who works a full-time job should have to live in poverty.
Given the increasingly global nature of the economy, some say that raising Greensboro’s minimum wage will make us uncompetitive and drive jobs away. Dire predictions from some economists that raising the minimum wage eliminates low-paying jobs and destroys businesses have not proven true in US states and cities that have raised their minimum wages well beyond the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour. Small businesses have actually grown faster in states with a higher minimum wage than those that follow the federal baseline. But also, we must ask ourselves whether the jobs the city may lose are jobs we really want in the first place. For the unemployed, it is reasonable to hold that any job is better than none at all. But that does not mean that we cannot also declare that the kinds of jobs that only pay the current minimum wage are the kinds of jobs we do not want to attract to our community. We have a right to demand more gratifying labor and healthier workplaces.
Even in a market economy, communities, acting through the democratic process, ought to establish certain limits on the behavior of businesses to ensure that they act in the public interest. Fair labor standards, public health and safety protections and environmental safeguards are all ways in which our governments keep the reins on the wild stallion that is the market. Most Americans agree that there is a dollar amount below which it is unfair and unethical to compensate people for their labor. For these Americans the only points of contention are (a) what that dollar amount should be and (b) who should decide. The Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance states that the amount of $9.36 per hour equals the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage in 1968. Since the federal and state governments do not have the willpower to enact such a reasonable wage, it is up to the local communities to act.
For those of us who make at or near the minimum wage, this will represent a significant change in our income and consequently our ability to participate more fully in the life of our community. For the majority of Greensboro workers who make more than $9.36 per hour, supporting the citywide wage increase should be seen as a sign of support and respect for our neighbors and for those who perform the tasks that keep us comfortable, offer us conveniences and keep our city moving. Your signature and vote for the Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance is a vote for a healthier community, improved quality of life and respect for the dignity of labor.
Community Shows Respect for Workers by Raising Minimum Wage
According to Gandhi, one of the eight blunders of humanity is “commerce without morality.” A market economy may be able to provide benefits to a great many people, but if it acts without moral restraint, it tends to leave a great many people unable to afford life’s necessities. Rather than relying on taxpayers and charitable organizations to provide for the poor, it makes more sense for the law to give the poor a fair wage so they can provide for themselves. As the market raises the price of everyday goods from food to gasoline, it is unfair not to raise the minimum wage to allow everybody to afford these things. The Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance, which we seek to place before the City Council as a citizens’ initiative, aims to make a positive, democratic statement about the kind of community we want to live in. Should the Council reject the Ordinance, the voters will decide its fate this November.
Raising the minimum wage to a level that allows working people to provide for their basic necessities is a way that the citizens of Greensboro can show respect for working people and for the dignity of work. Some have argued that municipalities have no authority to set a minimum wage above that of the state or the federal government. The people of Santa Fe and San Francisco, however, have enacted higher minimum wages without a successful challenge in court. As citizens in a democracy, we have the power to help shape our community. Enacting the Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance sends a powerful message that we envision ourselves to be a community where no one who works a full-time job should have to live in poverty.
Given the increasingly global nature of the economy, some say that raising Greensboro’s minimum wage will make us uncompetitive and drive jobs away. Dire predictions from some economists that raising the minimum wage eliminates low-paying jobs and destroys businesses have not proven true in US states and cities that have raised their minimum wages well beyond the federal minimum of $5.15 per hour. Small businesses have actually grown faster in states with a higher minimum wage than those that follow the federal baseline. But also, we must ask ourselves whether the jobs the city may lose are jobs we really want in the first place. For the unemployed, it is reasonable to hold that any job is better than none at all. But that does not mean that we cannot also declare that the kinds of jobs that only pay the current minimum wage are the kinds of jobs we do not want to attract to our community. We have a right to demand more gratifying labor and healthier workplaces.
Even in a market economy, communities, acting through the democratic process, ought to establish certain limits on the behavior of businesses to ensure that they act in the public interest. Fair labor standards, public health and safety protections and environmental safeguards are all ways in which our governments keep the reins on the wild stallion that is the market. Most Americans agree that there is a dollar amount below which it is unfair and unethical to compensate people for their labor. For these Americans the only points of contention are (a) what that dollar amount should be and (b) who should decide. The Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance states that the amount of $9.36 per hour equals the purchasing power of the federal minimum wage in 1968. Since the federal and state governments do not have the willpower to enact such a reasonable wage, it is up to the local communities to act.
For those of us who make at or near the minimum wage, this will represent a significant change in our income and consequently our ability to participate more fully in the life of our community. For the majority of Greensboro workers who make more than $9.36 per hour, supporting the citywide wage increase should be seen as a sign of support and respect for our neighbors and for those who perform the tasks that keep us comfortable, offer us conveniences and keep our city moving. Your signature and vote for the Greensboro Minimum Wage Ordinance is a vote for a healthier community, improved quality of life and respect for the dignity of labor.
posted by Jill Williams at
5:11 PM
14 Comments:
Very Impressive..Like a teacher ushering her students through a plan of action as a deadline looms. This appeal speaks to hearts and minds.
Thanks for posting since this wasn't available online through the N&R. Well thought out and written.
Thanks, Tony. Thanks, Anon. I'm pleased to see folks actually read the whole column. (Or at least pretend like they did!)
Great column, Malcom.
I'm debating whether or not to sign the peition. As I've expressed previously, while I support the concept of a higher minimum wage, I'm not confident in the wording of the petition. One thing I've noticed, for example, is taht the language makes no exceptions to the proposed minimum wage. The state wage laws allow for employees such as full-time students, apprentices and seasonal employees to be paid up to 15% less than the minimum wage. That seems reasonable to me. Whehter those exceptions are excluded from the petition by design, I don't know, but they are not there.
More problematic however, is the lack of an exception for empoyees who earn tips. State and federal law allow tips to count towards the minimum wage. The result is that most waiters and bar tenders are paid only a couple to a few dollars an hour, but they still earn more than the minimum wage because of tips.
Without an exception for employees who earn tips, it seems to me as if the proposed ordinance would require that bartenders and waiters be paid a wage of at least $9.36/hr. That's a huge increase. I think about a pub-owner friend of mine. His employees make good money, but it appears as if the proposed ordinance would require that he increase his payroll costs by more than 200%.
Ooops, you too, Fahiym.
roch101,
Why should a full-time student, apprentice or seasonal employee make 15% less than the minimum wage? The minimum wage should be just that, the MINIMUM. There is no excuse for a full-time student to make 15% less than the minimum simply because they are a student. I would argue that if they are able to maintain school full-time along with a job, they should be paid more than minimum wage, but that's not relevent to the current discussion.
As far as wait staff is concerned, I believe the law averages what they make and if they (including tips) make more than what the number of hours worked times minimum hourly wage equals, they don't have to be paid a minimum hourly wage.
"As far as wait staff is concerned, I believe the law averages what they make and if they (including tips..." Matt
The proposed ordinance doesn't. The state law allows some employees to be paid less than the minimum wage. The state law allows tips to be counted towards wages. There is nothing in the ordinance to indicate that it will conform to state law on the tip issue but not on the seasonal/student/apprentice worker issue.
WOW...and to think that they call Greensboro, GREENSBORING. This is exciting stuff. Greensboro is a really progressive city where new and exciting things happen. This campaign illustrates that point. I'm hopeful that this modest proposal will quickly gain favor resulting in a (believe it or not) better Greensboro. Our's is a fine city and it's lower paid workers deserve this increase. Bless you and bless Greensboro for this shining example of reasonable benevolence.
Thanks for the support, R. Brown. I happen to agree with you about Greensboro being a progressive city where exciting things are happening.
On to the conversation between Matt and Roch. Personally, I agree with Matt about the students, seasonal workers, and apprentices. I see no reason that these employees deserve a lower minimum wage than the rest of us.
The tipped employee question is a valid one. I found somewhere (can't seem to find it again) that some city or state passed a minimum wage law but failed to include any kind of wording about tipped workers. Now, the restaurant industry is still trying to figure out how to interpret the law and the government won't give them any instructions, so they are waiting for it to go to court at some point so that a judge can decide. It is an issue that we have to work out sooner rather than later, but I don't think it should be a deal breaker in terms of the movement to raise the minimum wage.
One of our committee members, Jim Boyett, is currently trying to get some legal advice on this question and a few others. I've asked him to respond here.
Update on tipped employee issue. It was Arkansas that was struggling to figure out how to handle tipped employees. They figured it out yesterday: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=43396.
In Response to the issue of tips being counted towards the minimum wage our proposed ordinance covers that issue and the issue of students and seasonal workers. In Paragraph 6 of our ordinance there is a sentence that reads as follows;
" It is the intent of the City of Greensboro and the Citizens of Greensboro not to change anything in the present State Or Federal laws that pertain to the regulation of the minimum wage except to provide for a higher minimum wage within the geographicial boundaries of the City of Greensboro and to enforce the higher minimum wage." What this does is harmonize our ordinance with State and Federal law. If tips are counted towards the State and Federal minimum then they count towards our minimum.
Okay, I think I see that. Does that then also mean that the seasonal/student/apprentice exceptions to the minimum wage would also apply?
Roch,
Our intent is to change only one number in the law. Everything else with regards to the minimum wage regulations remains the same.Therefore,if state law provides for a wage of 15% less for full time students and seasonal workers then under our ordinance they continue to get 15% less of the higher minimum wage.
Thanks, Jim. I appreciate the clarification.
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