- a katz / Shutterstock.com
- Workers rallying in New York this December.
⢠This morning, a coalition of human service providers and labor organizations released a joint statement saying they are "committed to reaching a $15 minimum wage for Seattle" and addressing five points of action they support, including making sure nonprofit human-service workers are also included in any wage raise. "All of our organizations strongly believe that every worker in our cityâwhether they do their job at a fast food counter or a shelterâdeserves a modest $15 wage at a minimum so they can afford the basics & contribute to the economy," says their statement, which you can read in full here. Which seems like it conflicts a little with Kshama Sawant's newest plan that would give employees at the largest companies $15 this coming January, but phase in the higher wage for employees of small businesses and nonprofits.
⢠In Chicago this Tuesday, a referendum on a $15-an-hour minimum wage for large employers won with a stunning 87 percent of the vote on election night, instructing the city council to take up the matter.
⢠Meanwhile, this New York Times story brings up the thorny issue of enforcement, which so far has not been much discussed in the minimum wage debate here at all:
It was one year to the day that the governor and the State Legislature emerged from the cave where they conduct all business to announce that New Yorkâs minimum wage had been raised 75 cents an hour as of Jan. 1, 2014.
For people in Mr. Juarezâs shoes, this should have brought it to $8 an hour, up from $7.25.
But after his third check of the year, Mr. Juarez said, he noticed that his hourly rate had not changed. He says he approached the manager at the restaurant, Hummus Kitchen, and invoked the name of the governor, Andrew M. Cuomo.
âI told her, âCuomo increased it to $8,â â Mr. Juarez said.
The manager seemed unimpressed, he recounted: âShe said, âItâs not our problem. Itâs the governorâs problem.â
âI tell her, âYou are supposed to pay the minimum,â and she said, âIf you want to go, go. For me it is not hard to get dishwashers.â â
Seattle has basically failed to enforce its paid sick leave and wage theft laws. As Cienna and I wrote last year, maybe we need a city office that better governs the enforcement of these city-enacted labor laws?