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LIving Wage Bill Passes in Yonkers, Again
The Yonkers City Council passed the new Living Wage Bill last night by a vote of 4-2 with 1 councilmember missing.
After listening to the public speak in favor of the bill, the council people had their turn to express their feelings.
Dennis Robertson supported the bill and explained to the public the background and coverage of the new legislation.
Both Sandy Annabi and Patricia McDow spoke with passion about the need for a law to help the poorest of Yonkers workers rise
above poverty level wages.
Dee Barbato and John Murtagh both expressed their belief in the need for higher wages for the poor but said they needed
to study this bill further, even though they have had since last April to study the issue and the bill.
Both Dee Barbato and John Murtagh supported the concept of a living wage when they were fighting the placement of Ridge
Hill Development in Yonkers . This was obviously just a ploy to embarass other concilmembers to vote against it or to try
to scare the developer because they both voted no last night.
It is now up to the Mayor to pass this revised legislation which has conformed to some of his concerns from the last
time he vetoed it. It is his turn to truly be the Mayor of all the residents of Yonkers, not just the new wealthy arrivals
and developers.
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Yonkers Living Wage Bill to Be Re-Introduced on Wednesday October 24th.
The Yonkers City Council, under the direction of Council President Chuck Lesnick, plans to introduce a revised version
of the Living Wage Bill. The bill would force the city
and employers receiving more than $150,000 in tax breaks from the city -- and their tenants -- to pay full- and part-time
workers $11.85 per hour plus $1.50 per hour in health benefits, or $13.35 per hour without benefits. The amount is in accordance
with Westchester's County's 2006 law.
This funding would include tax incentives or any kind of financial aid from the citizens of Yonkers. It would cover
businesses with more than 20 workers, over 15,000 square feet and over one million dollars in gross revenue.
This law is necessary because of the amount of new developement that Mayor Amicone is promising and the formidable aid
he is going to award to the developers. Consequently, without this law, the citizens and taxpayers of Yonkers would
be subsidizing poverty wages for the workers who work in the developments and for their tenants.
The bill excludes small businesses and is primarily aimed at the new development and big stores that will come with it.
It is time for the workers and the citizens of Yonkers to share in any new development that comes along rather than just
the developers and their tenants.
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Yonkers Council Plans to Revive
Living Wage Bill
(Original publication: August 1, 2007)
YONKERS - City Council Democrats plan to introduce a revised "living-wage" law next month in the hope of avoiding a second
veto by Mayor Phil Amicone.
"We went through his veto message and addressed every point that was made by the mayor," said City Council President Chuck
Lesnick.
Like the legislation vetoed in March by the mayor, the new proposal would establish a new, higher minimum wage for city
workers, most of its contractors and developers who receive local financial incentives.
The legislation is still evolving, Lesnick said, but the new proposal would exempt youth employment programs and contain
more protections for small businesses and nonprofits. For instance, the living wage would not affect businesses and nonprofit
organizations receiving $150,000 or less in city financial assistance. The previous cut-off was $25,000
In vetoing the living-wage bill in March, Amicone said the law would create barriers to businesses coming to Yonkers, require
increased property taxes to pay for higher wages for city employees, and spawn a new bureaucracy to monitor compliance with
the law.
The proposed new pay scale would be $9 for workers with health insurance or other benefits and $10.50 for those without
benefits. The state's minimum wage is $7.15 per hour.
"Yonkers is at the cusp of some real economic success, and we want the workers to share in that success," Lesnick said
this week. "There was a time when, if we put in restrictions, it might have scared people away, but right now Yonkers is thriving
and growing so we can shape our destiny a little bit."
Lesnick cited a study of 20 cities by the Economic Policy Institute, based in Washington, which found that living-wage
legislation was less expensive than municipalities had expected, generally raising municipal budgets by less than 0.1 percent.
Amicone spokesman David Simpson said the mayor was not opposed to the concept of living-wage legislation, but that "there
has been no economic analysis" concerning the law's effect on the city.
"I hope the City Council this time will include some thoughtful analysis. They should talk to experts on both sides," Simpson
said.
The last living-wage bill prompted a party-line vote, with all four Democrats supporting the law and all three Republicans
voting against it. Five votes are needed to override the mayor's veto.
"We are going to need to the vote of another council member, or the mayor," Lesnick said.
Westchester County adopted a living-wage bill in 2002. Large cities with living-wage laws included Baltimore, Boston, San
Francisco and Los Angeles.
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Maryland First State to Pass Living Wage
by James Parks, Apr 9, 2007
Maryland today became the first state to require contractors to pay workers a living wage, the fruit of a months-long coalition campaign that included union members, religious
leaders and civil rights advocates.
On its last day in session, the Maryland Senate voted, 31–16, to approve
the measure, which was passed by the state House last week. Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), who campaigned for the legislation,
has promised to sign the bill.
The new law will require service contractors doing business with the state to pay employees
$11.30 an hour in urban areas and $8.50 an hour in rural areas. The state’s minimum wage is $6.15 an hour.
The final vote is another step toward lifting thousands of Maryland workers out of
poverty, says Fred Mason, president of the Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO.
This vote is important for all workers. The union movement is the voice for all
workers. We look out for workers, whether they are union members or not. And we don’t think the state should ever have
been in the business of creating poverty-level jobs.
Maryland lawmakers passed a living-wage bill in 2004, but it was vetoed by then-Gov.
Robert Ehrlich (R). The same year, legislators raised the state’s minimum wage from $5.15 to $6.15 an hour.
This year, O’Malley called upon lawmakers to pass a statewide living
wage during his State of the State address. Recently, cities and counties across the country have voted to pay workers a living
wage. Read about living wage campaigns in Greater Boston, Memphis, Chicago and on college campuses.
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Yonkers Mayor Vetoes Living Wage Bill
As we expected, Mayor Phil Amicone of Yonkers has vetoed the Living
Wage Bill passed by the City Council last February 13, 2007. "At a time when we are just beginning
to realize our economic potential, with strong job growth and economic development all across the city, I am unwilling to
enact such a broad and far reaching measure that would adversely affect the city budget and nearly every sector of private
business in Yonkers." Amicone said.
In other words, he is concerned the developers
will be unhappy and not spend untold billions in Yonkers because their tenants, (large retail stores), would have to pay a
living or above poverty wage to their workers. The Mayor of Yonkers is under the illusion, like most Mayors in
Westchester, the these developers will go someplace else if you lean on them a little. They are not going anywhere.
They are in business to make money and will make money paying a living wage, just not as much profit for themselves as they
would like.
Since the beginning of the governments' action in pushing
for higher wages business and manufacturers have claimed the the sky would fall if workers where given a $2 or $3 wage increase
and that the economy of the country would come to a screeching halt. This was the case when we fought to raise the minimum
wage in New York State and their dire predictions have not come true.
Also, the Mayor's argument that the people who would receive the
benefits of the living wage don't live in Yonkers is bogus. Raising wages will increase the desirability
of the jobs and it is immoral for Yonkers residents to be subsidizing poverty wages no matter where the workers live.
Obviously, we are disapointed that the Mayor has vetoed this bill,
a bill that could have set Yonkers apart from the rest of Westchester and showed an example of a government caring for its
lowest paid workers.
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Supporters of Living Wage Bill in Yonkers Turn Out for Mayor's Public Hearing.
Close to 100 people turned out for the Yonkers' Mayor Phil Amicone's public hearing on the proposed Living Wage Bill.
The overwhelming majority spoke in favor of the bill with a few representatives of developers speaking against it.
The Working Families Party was out in force and many residents and union members came to the hearing.
The bill would mandate a $9.00 an hour wage for workers employed by contractors to the city as well as those receiving
taxpayer assistance in the form of tax incentives or other benefits. There are over 140 such laws in practice in many
municipalities around the country. It is now time for Yonkers to share with all its workers the benefits of new development
and advancement.
It is now up to the Mayor.
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| WFP Vice-Chair David Schwartz speaks at public hearing. |
Journal News Article
Yonkers City Council Passes
Living Wage Bill
This bill would bring some respect to these workers who indirectly work for the city at many jobs like
cleaning City Hall and working in the municipal parkings lots, etc.
We hope the Mayor will see fit to pass this legislation and put Yonkers in the forefront of treating ALL of its workers with dignity.
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