Get a job cleaning hotel rooms, washing windows, bagging groceries or serving cafeteria food in Pittsburgh's city-backed developments of the future, and you'd be guaranteed to earn what your peers elsewhere in town make, under legislation that got initial council approval yesterday.

The bill's unanimous passage, after a package of amendments was shelved, was a first step for a coalition of labor, community, religious and environmental groups that wants to change the way development is done in the city. Bills putting environmental and community involvement strings on city development subsidies are pending.

Gabe Morgan, Western Pennsylvania director of Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, said there's plenty of history of "people who work on different aspects of creating a better society" joining together around a common agenda. "We're finally getting some momentum in this city" around the idea of good-paying jobs, he said.

This first piece was organized labor's priority, and is likely to get final, veto-proof council approval Monday.

It's designed to ensure that workers in city-backed hotels, grocery stores, office buildings and cafeterias -- all areas of union organizing -- get paid at least the market average wage. It would apply to projects of more than 100,000 square feet, or grocery stores of more than 30,000 square feet, that get $100,000 or more of city grants, favorable loans, financing, infrastructure help or discounted land.

"There's going to be a core of jobs in every one of these developments that are going to be good-paying jobs," said Mr. Morgan. "It's great for people in the city that they might be able to go there and get a job that will help them sustain their family and sustain their community."

Developers and the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority have objected to provisions they thought were unclear, or likely to scare away tenants. Councilman Patrick Dowd submitted a slew of amendments that would clarify or limit the legislation's scope, but they gained no support.

Councilman William Peduto said he will submit changes on Monday that he crafted after conversations with unions and a handful of developers, but they will differ from Mr. Dowd's changes. "I believe Mr. Dowd's amendments would go further in taking away from the intent of the bill," Mr. Peduto said.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who could sign the bill, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature, could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Morgan said that if the legislation is approved, enforcement will be the key. "The service-sector unions are obviously going to watch that very hard."

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