Agenda - 03-05-1997 - 10c - Laserfiche WebLink

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2 •:1 A Living Wage for Orange County February 24, 1997 The Orange County Greens request that the Orange County Commissioners develop a living wage ordinance for Orange County. Background: Last year, the County adopted, as part of its Economic Development Strategic Plan, a "Statement of Corporate Citizenship" which states in part that good corporate citizens provide "wages and benefits adequate to the well-being and dignity of all workers."A wage adequate to the well-being of workers must be one that, at a minimum, keeps a full-time worker's family out of poverty. The current federal minimum wage falls far below the poverty line. A number of trends in the national and global economies contribute to the spread of recent living wage campaigns: the growing gap between rich and poor, the growth of a temporary workforce, mounting large scale lay-offs, declining real wages, the loss of union membership, the failure of the federal government's minimum wage to keep pace, and the loss of various governmental supports for the working poor. What is a Living Wage?: A living wage is typically defined as the amount that will keep a family of four above the poverty line. The Department of Health and Human Services considers the poverty line to be $15600 which, divided by 2080 hours of annual work, gives a living wage of $7.50. Some communities have established a living wage comparable, in today's dollars, to the historic high of the minimum wage. That amount is $6.56. Some areas try to adjust the living wage amount with the consumer price index to reflect local conditions. The Living Wage Ordinance: A living wage ordinance would seek to improve the conditions of lower paid workers by identifying the living wage and requiring businesses contracting with the County to pay at least that wage. It would exemplify the County's commitment to the principles of corporate citizenship. Living wage ordinances typically apply only to contracts over a certain threshold of value so as to not over-burden small contractors or the County staff. Attachments: Attached you will find the Introduction to a recent report by the Preamble Center for Public Policy which describes the living wage campaign in more detail. The Preamble Center has analyzed the results of Baltimore's living wage ordinance and determined that the five concerns most commonly raised by critics of such an ordinance have, in that case, not been born out. Also attached are excerpts from sample ordinances from other areas. Next steps: The Greens urge you to direct the County Manager and the EDC to determine the appropriate nature, scope, and wording of a living wage ordinance; also included should be the pros and cons of various living wage definitions for Orange County. We request that we be informed when the Manager's report comes back to you. There are many organizations in Orange County, beyond those represented this evening, that work with and are concerned with lower paid workers. They will want to appear before you to testify as to the importance of such an ordinance for the well-being of workers in our county.