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The political issues raised by
the Detroit Living Wage
Ordinance
Comment by Jerry White
7 November 1998
Detroit voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot
initiative Tuesday called the Living Wage
Ordinance. The measure requires that all
companies doing $50,000 or more worth of
business with the city, or receiving city
subsidies, pay a minimum wage of $7.70 per
hour, the official poverty level for a family of
four, and provide health care benefits.
Companies that do not provide benefits would
be required to pay $9.63 per hour. The ballot
measure was initiated by a coalition headed
by the Detroit Metropolitan AFL-CIO.
The provisions of the ordinance are very
limited. A wage increase of one or two dollars
an hour would hardly lift tens of thousands of
Detroit's working poor out of real poverty.
Moreover, most city contractors currently pay
wages at or above the proposed minimum, and
many private employers have been forced to
raise wages to attract workers. In several cities
where similar measures were passed,
including Los Angeles and Baltimore, many
employers have simply ignored it.
However, in the weeks before Election Day a
concerted effort was launched by the so-called
Coalition for Full Employment to defeat the
ordinance. The Detroit Regional Chamber of
Commerce, whose members include the Big
Three auto companies; the American Society
of Employers; the Detroit Free Press and
Detroit News; Detroit Renaissance and the
Booker T. Washington Association, an
organization of black businessmen, all
publicly opposed the measure.
Chamber president and CEO Richard E.
Blouse Jr. denounced it, saying it would lead
to a "ripple effect" causing all wages to
increase, and that this would "result in
business relocations, layoffs and business
closings." He added that "a living wage" would
hamper companies from hiring entry-level
workers and make it less likely that they
would invest in Detroit.
Mayor Dennis Archer originally endorsed the
measure, but then reversed himself saying the
ordinance would do "damage" to small and
minority-owned businesses and particularly
nonprofit organizations.
Despite the extremely limited character of the
proposal it has brought to the fore the
antagonism of class interests in Detroit. On
the one side, workers overwhelmingly
supported the measure. On the other, virtually
all of Detroit's economic and political
establishment opposed it, including the black
politicians and wealthy businessmen who
claim to speak for minority workers and
youth.
Workers for the most part ignored the
pro-business arguments and affirmed their
feelings that they have the right to jobs with
decent wages. However, those who are
counting on the measure to significantly
improve their economic standing are going to
be disappointed.
The employers will likely challenge the
ordinance in the courts and tie up its
implementation for years. Even if it were to
take effect, past experience shows that the
ordinance will likely become a dead letter. A
study in May done by the coalition that won
passage of a similar measure in Los Angeles
said the city fails to monitor and implement
the measure.
The Metro Detroit AFL-CIO cannot be counted
on to enforce it. The union officials have
already indicated that they will accept
exemptions to accommodate the employers.
As a spokesperson for the Detroit Metro
AFL-CIO told the World Socialist Web Site,
"The guidelines will be no different than any
other city that has a living wage ordinance. All
of those cities have exceptions and
exemptions."
Even if it were enforced, the ordinance in and
of itself cannot solve the social problems facing
Detroit workers, especially low-paid and
younger workers. A whole raft of companies
have already said that if they are forced to pay
higher wages they will take their business
elsewhere.
This underscores the fact that the struggle for
a living wage is bound up with the struggle to
defend jobs. A strategy to defend good-paying
jobs raises fundamental questions that go to
the heart of the present economic system.
What are to be society's priorities: the
provision of ever-greater profits for the wealthy
and the most privileged layers of the upper
middle class or the guarantee of decent jobs
and living standards for the vast majority of
the population--the working people?
The fight for jobs at decent wages raises the
need for a struggle to fundamentally change
how the economy is organized. Neither one of
the political parties will take any measure that
seriously challenges the profits and property of
big business. That includes the Democrats on
the Detroit City Council who supported the
Living Wage Ordinance as a token gesture to
give themselves a "left" coloration.
Working people need a political party
answerable to their own interests. Such a
party would carry out socialist policies,
including placing the major industries and
banks under public control, in order to operate
the economy for the common good, rather
than private profit.
See Also:
Growing disaffection with the two-party
system
US elections deal rebuff to Republicans
and impeachment drive
[5 November 1998]
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