Bill would reintroduce living wage ordinance
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Entombed for eight years, the city of Pittsburgh's living wage ordinance could be jolted back to life by legislation introduced by Councilman Ricky Burgess yesterday.
Mr. Burgess' proposal to activate a wage floor for workers on the city payroll, on city contracts, and on city-backed development sites comes as council wrestles with two bills to mandate prevailing wages for hotel, janitorial, cafeteria and grocery workers at subsidized projects.
The councilman called his proposal "much, much broader" than the prevailing wage bills, potentially complementing them or rendering them moot.
"It's time for the city to make a moral statement -- a moral statement that we are concerned about the people of the city of Pittsburgh and we will not contribute to poverty wages," Mr. Burgess said. "Once the living wage comes to fruition, there may not be a need for prevailing wage legislation."
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, whose administration backs the narrower of two prevailing wage bills, said he was concerned that the living wage bill could hamstring development efforts.
"It's everybody's goal to create good-paying jobs," he said. "We just want to make sure that in no way does either piece of legislation in some way hamper [development], or in some way hurt the ability to create jobs and economic opportunity."
In 2001, council approved legislation mandating a $9.12 an hour wage plus health insurance, or $10.62 without, for virtually every worker whose job was paid, supported or subsidized with city money. "Everywhere that our shadow falls, we will ensure that workers receive a living wage," Mr. Burgess said yesterday.
But City Council then added a caveat that the rule would only take effect after Allegheny County adopted similar rules. County Council narrowly rejected an ordinance, rendering the city legislation dormant.
Mr. Burgess's six-line bill would remove the wait-for-the-county provision, thus turning on some 500 lines of city code that also include phase-in periods for nonprofit contractors, and preferences for job-seeking city residents at city-backed developments. He said the $9.12-an-hour wage floor would be recalculated by the city controller.
First Published January 20, 2010 12:03 am
