I gave Vandy's Dr. Snarr a ration of poop when she first came out with this study because I didn't - and still don't - think it's enough to actually survive on for any length of time, BUT let me say this clearly and unequivocally: if there is any chance at all that we can get legislation passed that would make this wage our new "minimum," I would - and will - be at the front of the line to assist in getting it passed.
Everything here in Nashville , and this undoubtedly holds true damned near everywhere else as well, hinges on the access to funds.
No money, no housing, no clothes, no jobs, no transportation, no IDs, no resources, no help.......March 23, 2009
Living wage efforts face new hurdle
Bill targets campaigns to raise minimum pay above federal level
By Chas Sisk
THE TENNESSEAN
A little over a year ago, Mary Hampton and her two children were living in transitional housing operated by the Safe Haven Family Shelter. Today, the Vanderbilt University housekeeper is renting a two-bedroom house in South Nashville.
The difference, she says, was Vanderbilt's decision last year to adopt a so-called living wage, a minimum of $10.18 an hour for its staff.
"We have two bedrooms and a lovely backyard," Hampton said. "We're doing it."
But efforts to mandate higher wages for the city's poorest workers now face a significant challenge.
A bill making its way through the state legislature aims to stop cold any campaign, such as the one backed by local activists, that seeks to create a living wage.
The measure, which comes as organizers are gearing up for a renewed living wage campaign in Nashville, would scuttle any local ordinance that requires private employers to pay more than the federal minimum, currently $6.55 an hour.
Supporters say their goal is to keep Tennessee communities from succumbing to a movement that might raise wages for some, but will keep jobs from being created for others.
"Living wage bills sound good," said Sen. Paul Stanley, the suburban Memphis Republican who proposed the measure. "For those at the lower ends of the wage scales, this actually is a deterrent to them."
Opponents, however, say the bill amounts to a legislative veto over decisions taken after lengthy debate in local communities. They also say it will set back workers who remain in poverty despite holding down full-time jobs.
"I believe if you're able to work, you ought to have some type of housing, some type of health care and some type of recreation," said Maurice Harris, pastor of Hosea Community Church and a backer of the living wage campaign for Nashville. "You ought to be able to have a life."
Shelby has living wage
The legislation, which has passed the state Senate and is up for consideration in the House, comes in response to successful 2006 campaigns in Shelby County and the city of Memphis to require all private companies that do business with those governments to pay their workers at least $10 an hour, or $12 if they lack fringe benefits.
The bill also follows living wage campaigns in Knoxville and Nashville, where the Metro Council voted down a living wage ordinance in 2001. Organizers here are preparing to launch a new living wage campaign soon.
The bill now in the General Assembly would abolish the existing living wage statutes and prevent new ones from being adopted anywhere in the state. The bill also would kill ordinances that require contractors to pay "prevailing wages," the average amount paid by other local employers for similar work.
Exceptions would be made for instances in which contractors have to pay more than the minimum wage to receive federal funds administered by local government. Portions of the $787 billion stimulus package have such rules.
"They (living wage proponents) always start out saying government employees should be paid a living wage," said Dan Haskell, chairman of the Tennessee Jobs Coalition, a business group. "The second step of living wage proponents is always that people who contract with government can't be paid less than a living wage. Then, the third step is people who contract with people who contract. Eventually, everyone in the county has a new minimum wage."
Bad for state economy?
Stanley says he introduced the bill to keep local governments from taking actions that are bad for the state's economy as a whole. Supporters say living wage ordinances create higher costs for other residents, and they discourage companies from hiring teenagers and other workers who aren't skilled enough to justify paying wages far above the minimum.
Requiring above-market wages leads fewer companies to bid on government contracts. The laws also create administrative problems for companies by creating two different pay scales, supporters said.
Supporters also said the issue is a Trojan horse for labor and community groups. Organizers will use a living wage passed in one community as leverage to get their neighbor to do the same, and once on the books, living wages will quickly escalate, they said.
"Where do they get $10 from?" Stanley said. Why not $15? Why not $20?"
Stanley also said the living wage effort has been driven by unions and other groups outside Tennessee. More than 150 local governments nationwide have implemented living wage laws over the last decade, but Tennessee governments have consistently rejected such statutes, he said.
But opponents of the bill say no living wage ordinance can pass without significant local support.
"This is about self-determination," said Sen. Beverly Marrero, a Memphis Democrat who voted against the measure. "I was there at one of the meetings before the City Council. I'm certainly not an outside agitator."
Dems don't support bill
The bill would be a setback for Nashville's living wage campaign, said Siobhan Sargent, an organizer with Middle Tennessee Jobs for Justice.
"It would be negative legislation," she said. "People would see it (a living wage ordinance) as something that couldn't be positive."
But local living wage proponents say they can work around the measure. The first goal of their next campaign will be to raise wages of the 72 full-time and the 600 part-time and seasonal Metro government employees who are not paid a living wage, which they define as $10.80 an hour for workers with benefits and $11.30 an hour for those without.
The state legislation would not bar Metro from paying a living wage to its own employees, organizers say.
"Overall, we would still be able to proceed," Sargent said.
Still, supporters of a living wage hope to kill the measure in the state House of Representatives. The bill passed the Senate with only one Democrat voting in favor, Sen. Douglas Henry of Nashville.
Republicans hold only a one-seat advantage in the House, and its committees are evenly split between the two parties. Opponents say they will try to stymie the measure before it gets onto the books.
"I hope this does not pass," said Nashville Rep. Gary Odom, the House Democratic leader. "It's very rare when I'm going to support preemption by state government of local government."
At stake, both sides say, is the good of the state as a whole.
"We don't want to limit this to Nashville," said Harris, the pastor working with the city's living wage campaign. "We feel all families should be able to have a living wage."
