Momentum Grows for Living Wages in Publicly Subsidized Development

The Living Wage NYC Campaign announced today that a majority of New York City Council members have now signed on in support of the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act (Intro 251) requiring developers who receive major taxpayer-funded subsidies to pay at least a living wage for the permanent jobs they create.

"Reaching this majority shows that when City Council Members are faced with a clear choice about what type of economic development our tax dollars should support, one that keeps people in poverty or one that provides a path to the middle class and supports our communities, they will make the right choice. The majority has decided that public subsidies must be used to create permanent living wage jobs," said Rev. Sekou, a member of the Living Wage NYC Coalition from the Micah Institute.

Every year New York City spends billions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize development and create jobs. Too often the permanent jobs created with these public subsidies pay poverty wages with no benefits -- whether it's retail and stockroom jobs at shopping centers, mailroom jobs in office buildings, or food service jobs at stadiums.

Under the bill, the living wage will start at $10.00 per hour - the same as under New York City's existing living wage law. Employees who are not covered by an employer-provided health plan will receive an additional $1.50 per hour wage supplement to help them purchase their own health insurance. Both the living wage and the health benefits supplement will be adjusted each year to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

"It's great news that a majority of City Council members have taken a stand for working people in New York," said Irene R Romero, a retail worker and member of the Retail Action Project (RAP). "If I made a living wage, I could pay the bills and have a little extra money to help my family more and save for school."

Reaching the 26-vote threshold needed to pass the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act adds to the momentum for a citywide policy to guarantee fair wages on subsidized development projects. The Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act will lay out clear expectations for developers and help speed economic growth that will create jobs that benefit all New Yorkers.

More than 15 cities have enacted such legislation and they have found that these policies create quality jobs for local residents without slowing growth. New York City is behind the times on this issue and, as a result, our publicly subsidized developments are keeping people in poverty-wage jobs, rather than providing them with opportunities to get ahead.

Living Wage NYC Coalition partners (in formation): Community Voices Heard; Families United for Racial and Economic Equality; Fifth Ave. Committee; Fiscal Policy Institute; Good Old Lower East Side; The Greater NY Labor Religion Coalition; Jewish Labor Committee; Make the Road NY; The Micah Institute at New York Theological Seminary; National Employment Law Project; Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition; Northwest Bronx for Change; NY Communities for Change; NY Jobs with Justice & Urban Agenda ; Retail Action Project; Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).

In a recent editorial, Crain's New York Business revealed their true feelings about people who are on the low end of the wage scale, those who would benefit most with the passage of the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act; “The Council needs to be disabused of the notion that a cashier, floor-sweeper or security guard must be paid enough to raise a family here,” Crain's wrote. We strongly disagree and believe that, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, “Now is the time to make an adequate income a reality for all God’s children, now is the time for City Hall to take a position for that which is good and honest.” Here's a cartoon by Naide that we hope you will forward widely, print out and use. Click here or on the image to download.

Working a low-wage retail job in New York City isn’t easy, but for people like Romeo Ilboudou, a stock manager at the high-end clothing retailer Scoop NYC, discrimination, wage theft, and hazardous conditions made it even lousier.

“The stock people were all West African,” said Ilboudou, who worked the job for five years. “Our break room was a boiler room in the basement. This is where we had to eat our lunch, change our clothes and even sleep.”

Non-immigrant workers at Scoop NYC were not subject to such conditions, Ilboudou said, adding that he and other immigrants were also forced to work more than 20 hours per week overtime without receiving the legally required time-and-a-half pay.

“We are the ones who built this company from the bottom up, and this was not a way to say ‘thank you,’” he added.

Now, Ilboudou and his former co-workers are celebrating a victory that comes after a year of organizing, protest, and legal action to make the company follow wage and hour laws and respect the rights of immigrant workers.

Seventeen workers from Scoop NYC achieved a settlement for their back wage and discrimination suits July 7 with the help of the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union’s Retail Action Project (RAP). Its terms are confidential.

Workers filed two complaints against Scoop NYC, one seeking hundreds of thousands of dollars in back pay for overtime and the second alleging discrimination based on national origin. Scoop NYC management attempted to skirt its responsibility to pay overtime and other benefits by misclassifying workers as managers, they said. The settlement covers both cases.

USE WHEN CONVENIENT

In October 2008 Scoop NYC initiated an internal audit of the immigrant workers’ papers. According to RAP, seven workers presented authorization, but Scoop NYC fired them, alleging that they failed to produce proper documentation.

The fired workers turned to RAP for assistance, and then to the Cary Kane law firm.

In July 2009, RAP organized a large demonstration outside Scoop NYC’s flagship store in SoHo to announce the lawsuit against the trendy retailer. Workers marched up Broadway in February, again descending on Scoop NYC, together with RAP members from nearby boutiques.

Organizers say this settlement is not only a victory for Scoop NYC workers, but a step towards improving wages for retail workers throughout the city.

“Because many retail workers are not properly paid and many others suffer from poverty wages, not only must we ensure that legal wages are paid retail workers but we must lift the wage floor for retail workers,” said Jeff Eichler, RWDSU’s lead organizer in New York.

The union is pushing for the Wage Theft Prevention Act at the state level, which would substantially increase penalties for wage theft and provide additional protection to workers who come forward to report wage theft, and the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act in New York City, which would require that all large subsidized projects provide a living wage of $10 per hour plus benefits for permanent workers or $11.50 an hour if health benefits are not provided. The bill would also provide for cost of living increases.

Ilboudou says the victory at Scoop NYC is not just about the money. “When you’re struggling to make ends meet and you’re moving from job to job, you really are at the mercy of the boss,” he said. “Organizing together gives us strength.”

This story originally appeared in Labor Notes on July 14, 2010.