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May 13, 2011
'Living wage' backers storm City Hall
Advocates rally before a hearing on a bill to hike wages at city-subsidized projects. But mayoral aides and business leaders say the measure would kill jobs.
Crain's NY Business
by Daniel Massey
Proponents of a bill to mandate higher wages at city-subsidized projects took to the streets Thursday morning to call for its passage and to protest a city-funded study that found the measure would stifle development and job growth.
The City Hall Park rally, attended by several hundred people, including dozens of pastors, preceded a City Council hearing on the bill that was expected to last late into the afternoon. Protestors carried signs pressing for a “living wage” and accusing its opponents of “putting New Yorkers to work for less.” The latter sign mocked Putting New Yorkers to Work, a nonprofit group established by the Real Estate Board of New York that has led opposition to the bill.
“When companies and developers benefit from government support, they should provide something in return—jobs that allow people to live in dignity, not jobs that keep people in poverty,” Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, told the crowd.
...The bill, Intro 251-A, which would compel employers at projects that receive $100,000 or more in city subsidies to pay workers $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 without benefits, was expected to draw passionate testimony from supporters and opponents.
Tokumbo Shobowale, chief of staff in the office of the deputy mayor for economic development, planned to testify on the findings of the city-funded study, details of which were released earlier this week. His prepared testimony called for him to say that wage mandates would hinder development and result in tens of thousands of jobs lost and billions of dollars of lost private investment over the next 20 years.
The job loss and disinvestment would occur disproportionately in neighborhoods outside Manhattan and could potentially prevent some two dozen projects—including the World Trade Center, Coney Island and Atlantic Yards—from going forward, his prepared testimony said.
NoLandGrab: OK, how is compelling Bruce Ratner to pay workers $10 an hour going to prevent Atlantic Yards from going forward? We thought the project was supposed to deliver thousands of good-paying, family-supporting jobs, and in New York City, a "good-paying" job doesn't have an hourly wage that's in the single digits.
It's time to stop blaming the project's failings on everything but Forest City Ratner and its long list of phony promises.
Posted by eric at May 13, 2011 11:45 AM