More input from Santa Fe

Thanks to Jim Boyett, co-chair of the Greensboro Minimum Wage Campaign, for pointing me to a wealth of information on the campaign for a living wage for all of Santa Fe's workers. Lots of interesting work there; here's a highlight from a column by Rebecca Wurzburger (Santa Fe City Councilwoman) and Buddy Roybal (Santa Fe small businessman):

Five years ago the two of us were both unsure of the potential impacts of Santa Fe's landmark living wage law. Although supportive of the wage in concept, as City Councilor I was uncomfortable with the fact that the proposed ordinance had no plan for evaluating its impact, particularly on smaller business. Similarly Buddy, a local business owner, was concerned about the unintended consequences of the law, particularly on young people and all local business. Today we both strongly support the proposed amendments to the living wage ordinance. They will extend coverage so that all workers in Santa Fe will earn a minimum of $9.50 per hour, not just those in businesses with 25 or more employees. This will mean that instead of covering only 60 percent of workers, the law will cover all of them. The amendments also include an automatic annual cost of living increase starting in 2009, so that inflation does not erode the value of the $9.50 minimum wage. We are not alone in our support of these proposed changes . . . By passing the amendments, with no other changes, the City Council will be respecting an historic agreement forged by this community. That, in turn, will encourage greater efforts at community consensus building on other difficult and divisive issues.

Here's hoping we'll see similar articles in Greensboro in five years. Given that yesterday was the 28th anniversary of the 1979 shootings in Morningside Homes (more information on that than you probably want can be found here), I think the last sentence holds a particularly high level of meaning for us.