Companies receiving city contracts or taxpayer subsidies would have to pay a "living wage" as part of the deal, under ordinances being proposed in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

"If you're getting public money, you ought to pay your workers enough so they're able to feed their family," said Ryan Greenwood, organizing director for Progressive Minnesota, part of the coalition of labor, social justice and community groups behind the Living Wage Yes! Campaign. "This is a step forward to make sure the city isn't spending its money to create more poverty."

Affected companies would have to pay workers at least $12.09 an hour, which adds up to $484 a week. That wage is set at 130 percent of the federal poverty guideline for a family of four. Below that level, families qualify for food stamps.

Although complete language is still being drafted, Greenwood said the proposed St. Paul ordinance would:
? Require a higher, more meaningful "living wage" than the city's existing policy.
? Close most of the loopholes that allow companies to escape the wage requirements.
? Be legally enforceable.

"This is about spending tax money responsibly," Greenwood said. "I think that's something every council member can support." Pushing identical ordinances in St. Paul and Minneapolis helps create a community-wide standard, he said.

Josh Rissman (left) and Brian Joyce help kick off St. Paul's Living Wage Yes! Campaign. Union Advocate photo

Subsidies, contracts affected
A rally in Rice Park officially kicked off the St. Paul portion of the campaign Tuesday afternoon. The current city policy is "well intentioned" but "needs teeth," said Bernie Hesse, organizing director for UFCW Local 789. Subsidies are not a corporate entitlement, he said, but should be available only to companies that provide jobs that workers can live on.

St. Paul adopted its current policy in 1997, setting the living-wage threshold at 110 percent of the federal poverty guideline. That makes the current benchmark $9.97 an hour.

The proposed ordinance affects any business or nonprofit organization with at least $1 million in annual revenues that receives "substantial public funding" through city contracts or subsidies. Subsidies cover such things as tax breaks, direct grants, land that the city sells or gives away at less than market value, and other public support, Greenwood said.

The ordinance would, for the first time, apply to city contracts for services, though purchases of such things as pens and toilet paper would be exempt.

Enforcing compliance
Moving the concept of a living wage beyond a policy to an ordinance also increases the chances of compliance, Greenwood said. The proposal will include "a meaningful monitoring mechanism" so the city can track companies, enforce the requirements, and penalize companies that don't comply ? perhaps by requiring the company to pay back a percentage of its subsidy. "Compliance can be flexible but it has to be meaningful, so companies actually do it," he said.

"If a company takes money from the city to create good jobs, and those jobs never materialize, people should know about it," said Andrea Sachs, board chair of Progressive Minnesota.

How much taxpayer support triggers the provisions remains under discussion. Proponents are using the current policy's threshold of $100,000 "as the starting point," Greenwood said. "It's not completely hammered out between us and the council."

The proposed ordinance applies only to new contracts and development deals; it would not be retroactive. How many projects or contracts actually could qualify is unknown, Greenwood said, because St. Paul isn't able to generate reliable figures. "That, in itself, is a reason this is needed," he said.

The proposal, he said, would prevent a repeat of what happened in 2001, when St. Paul provided $7 million to Target Corp. to renovate the downtown Marshall Field's store, which Target then owned. Target agreed to keep the store open, but refused to release wage data for Field's employees, and actually eliminated jobs as part of the renovation.

Similarly, Minneapolis gave Target $62 million in subsidies for the retailer's new downtown headquarters and store, but exempted the project from living-wage requirements.

Door-to-door campaign
Fifth Ward council member Lee Helgen has pledged to introduce the ordinance in St. Paul, Greenwood said, and proponents "are looking forward to working with everyone on council and with the mayor to make this happen."

The coalition hopes to get the ordinance approved this year ? perhaps as early as fall. To make sure that happens, the Living Wage Yes! Campaign intends to carry out citywide door-knocking to generate support and pressure from residents.

"We need coalitions like yours to push politicians where they're not ready to go," city council president Kathy Lantry said at the rally. She urged supporters to line up enough votes on the council not only to pass to ordinance, but to override a veto, if necessary.

"The real moral fiber of a city is how it treats those on the margins, especially those on the economic margins," Rabbi Morris Allen, of Congregation Beth Jacob, told supporters. By guaranteeing workers decent wages, Greenwood said, an ordinance actually can reduce public spending on food stamps, health care and other social services.

Labor groups in the campaign include the Saint Paul Trades and Labor Assembly, AFSCME Council 5, MAPE, SEIU Minnesota State Council and UFCW Local 789.

Updated from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org