Working hard for the money
The Ventura County Living Wage Coalition wins a small battle in the larger war
By Matthew Singer 03/23/2006
After five years of running into dead ends, local social justice advocates are one step closer to having a living wage ordinance implemented in the city of Ventura. In a 6-0 vote on March 20, the Ventura City Council agreed to consider a proposal that would raise the hourly wages of some public workers — primarily landscapers and janitorial staffs — by nearly $6 dollars. City administrators now have until May to submit a final draft of the ordinance to the council for approval. And considering the unanimous decision that occurred this month (though one councilmember was absent from the proceedings), some proponents are confident there will be a living wage in Ventura by July.
Under the proposed ordinance, eligible public employees who receive medical benefits will see an increase from $6.75 an hour — California’s current minimum wage — to $9.75, while those without benefits will jump to $12.50. The ordinance would apply to city workers who log more than 1,000 hours of labor a year and to employees of private companies whose contracts with the city exceed $2,500. Although supporters hoped part-time workers would fall under the law as well, this would be the strongest of the county’s three current living wage ordinances in terms of eligibility because it also extends to lease holders, says Cesar Hernandez, community planning director for the Central Coast Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE).
“The process was something that needs to be highlighted and commended,” Hernandez says. “The city did step up to the plate and negotiate with the [Ventura County] Living Wage Coalition, and this was the best compromise that could be reached. It’s a cost-effective proposal that truly begins to address part of the problem of families living in poverty.”
It also represents a change in the city’s attitude toward the idea of a living wage. In 2001, the council shot down a similar proposal because, says CAUSE executive director and Living Wage Coalition chairperson Marcos Vargas, the living wage concept was largely untested throughout the country. Since then, 80 jurisdictions nationwide have enacted living wage laws — bringing the national total to 136 according to the Living Wage Resource Center — confirming that a living wage helps combat poverty with “little, if any” negative impact to local economies, he says. Vargas adds that a living wage meshes with Ventura’s more recent long-term goals.
“A living wage is very consistent with the vision the city has been trying to achieve the last couple of years,” he says. “They’re moving forward in achieving the principles of a sustainable city, and living wage is another element in that.”
Vargas says that while there are no numbers available to indicate how many people will be affected by the ordinance, the significance will be substantial in regards to future contracts with the city.
Brian Clark, special assistant to the city manager, says the city ironed out the details of the ordinance with the Living Wage Coalition over a period of about three months. Now that they’ve been given the go-ahead to finalize a proposal, city staff will work on completing a draft to submit to the council before the May 22 deadline. Slight changes will likely be made, but “the substance of the proposal brought forth by the city will remain the same,” Hernandez says.
While he is pleased with the city’s commitment to a living wage, Hernandez stresses that the possible passage of the ordinance should not end the discussion on poverty in Ventura County. Even after the wage hikes, many households benefiting from the increase would still fall under the city’s definition of “low income,” he says.
“It’s putting families barely at the poverty line, so it’s not like a complete solution,” he says. “But it definitely provides an extra amount of money for food and to help them pay the rent and their bills, and it shows that the city is taking responsibility in assuring that tax money doesn’t go to subsidized poverty wages.”
He adds that if the ordinance is put into action, the next step will be to monitor its enforcement, as the coalition has been in Oxnard, Port Hueneme and the County of Ventura, the jurisdictions that had previously implemented living wage laws. Beyond that, Hernandez says there is the possibility of launching movements to get ordinances enacted in other areas of the county, such as Camarillo, Thousand Oaks and Santa Paula, depending on the interest within those communities.
“This is by no means the end of our work,” he says, “just one more success in our trajectory.”
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