Living Wage: An Opportunity for Hope

Transcription

1 PART 4.4 Living Wage: An Opportunity for Hope JAIMIE MCEVOY is a City Councillor in New Westminster, BC. A New Westminster resident for over 25 years, Jaimie has been actively involved with local issues such as homelessness, poverty, crime and affordable housing. Jaimie is currently the Director of the Hospitality Project at the New Westminster Food Bank, Shiloh-Sixth Avenue United Church. On April 26, 2010, the City Council of New Westminster, BC voted unanimously in favour of a living wage bylaw, the first of its kind in Canada. A municipal living wage policy is a legally enforceable policy ensuring that workers employed by the city and those contracted using municipal funds will be paid enough to meet basic family living expenses. A living wage is not the same as the provincially legislated minimum wage. Instead, the living wage is calculated based on the amount a family requires to meet basic expenses, such as housing, child care, food and transportation. The calculation also incorporates government taxes, credits, deductions and subsidies. Since 1994, living wage policies have been successfully implemented in over 140 US cities, including New York, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Miami. While New Westminster is pioneering the municipal living wage in Canada, several other Canadian cities are making headway on the introduction of similar policies. To find out more about the Canadian 124 UNLIMITED VISION

2 campaign for a living wage, check out the Living Wage for Families Campaign website at livingwageforfamilies.ca. We interviewed New Westminster Councillor Jaimie McEvoy shortly after New Westminster passed the living wage bylaw. Councillor McEvoy played a leading role in introducing and building support for this initiative. Q. How did you become involved in the Living Wage campaign? I knew about it for a long time because I previously worked at CUPE. A local chapter of ACORN [Association Community Organizations for Reform Now] approached me and the New Westminster Labour Council also had it on the table. It was a synthesis of input. Q. How does the Living Wage fit in with other poverty reduction initiatives? Well, Council has been fairly active in these issues in New Westminster for a long time. We never actually said let s develop a comprehensive poverty reduction strategy, but out of our work at the city several strategies emerged. New Westminster has had a homelessness coalition for quite some time, which is supported by the city and focuses its work on education around poverty issues. At city hall we developed a homelessness action strategy which is a mechanism for creating positive dialogue around these issues. The city also developed an affordable housing strategy, which outlines nine significant ways to plan for social housing, including measures for preserving existing housing stock as well as incentives for developers to build affordable housing. To meet the city s desire to be a leader in early childhood planning, New Westminster developed a childcare and early childhood development policy that among other things addresses the growing demand for affordable licensed child care facilities. When developers present us with a project proposal child care planning is always a part of that discussion. We are interested in breaking cycles of poverty. When the idea of developing a living wage by-law came up, it fit in with other projects in our community. Cities have the power to act on this issue without stepping outside their jurisdiction. And thanks to the work of the homeless coalition, there was already a high level of awareness around poverty issues. PART 4: ON THE GROUND: IDEAS IN ACTION 125

3 Q. What was involved in proposing the Living Wage initiative to fellow councillors and city staff? What were their main concerns? I tell people who support this policy to be patient because it is a new concept with many pros, but possibly some cons. As a first step we called for a study on the policy to be reported back to council. We wanted people to be as informed as possible. There were a lot of questions: Did this mean a new minimum wage for New West? How would the policy be applied? It took a lot of time and consultation. We very purposely took a non-acrimonious approach. People had legitimate questions, and anytime people are asking questions, they are seeking information and that is a good thing. We informed employers about the struggles their employees were living with. We explained that BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada and that 50 per cent of those children living in poverty have a parent who is working full time. The costs of living in the Lower Mainland are such that it makes it extremely difficult to make ends meet. It was an education process that took about three months. Q. What will the impact be on New Westminster s municipal finances? Our outside estimate is $150,000, but we don t have a final figure yet. We are conducting a thorough review; $150,000 is our working figure. Q. Why are municipalities an important place to start? Well, I ll tell you why I started here, because I am here! Great political values start at home. Let s apply our values to where we are I happen to be a city councillor, so this was the place to start. You know someone asked me is this policy a waste of time if it only affects a limited amount of people? and I like to joke that with Scrooge, his change was about helping one family, the family of his sole employee Bob Cratchit. We have a responsibility to see what is going on in our worker s lives. Q. How do you balance the responsibilities of an employer to his worker with the responsibility of the government to provide affordable social programs? Some people don t have a job because they can t afford the costs of having a job. Look at the training wage, $6 per hour. For a 4 hour shift, the first hour s pay would go to transportation, the second hour s to a 126 UNLIMITED VISION

4 On April 26, 2010, the City Council of New Westminster, BC voted unanimously in favour of a living wage bylaw, the first of its kind in Canada. A municipal living wage policy is a legally enforceable policy ensuring that workers employed by the city and those contracted using municipal funds will be paid enough to meet basic family living expenses. cheap lunch, out of the last two hours, after deductions, that worker would be lucky to take home $ A big expense that prevents people from working is child care. It is the second highest cost families face after rent or mortgage. If we want to have equality of opportunity, if we want everyone who s able to work working, then we need to look at this cost. When childcare subsidies were cut, it was a recipe for poverty. In the end it might be more cost effective to have a national affordable childcare policy, but we don t have any power over that. We also know wages have to address this issue. Q. How did you engage the public on this issue? Was there any opposition to this initiative from the public or business community? We had some opposition from individuals, but no organized opposition as such. We had a lot of questions and demands for transparency, which I think is great. I m all for that. Most of those people who were blatantly against the policy seemed to be coming from a purely ideological perspective. I urged them to examine the specifics. Doing the right thing for people will indeed have consequences for other policies, but I think that s great. The living wage offers job sustainability, less stress, more success. PART 4: ON THE GROUND: IDEAS IN ACTION 127

5 One of the groups that endorsed us was the Canadian Cancer Society, for the simple reason that fighting cancer requires eating healthy food, and healthy food costs more than cheap filling food. A livable wage is essential to a healthy life. Q. The Living Wage campaign has received positive attention from the public and media. Why do you think it seems to resonate with people so much more than other poverty-reduction initiatives? I think there are a couple of reasons for that. I think people understand that there s an inherent injustice in asking people to do a job and then not paying them enough for their labour. Also the living wage policy is accommodating; it is not the same across the board. It considers cost of living, social programs, and these factors differ from region to region. It also offers opportunities for hope. We may or not raise the minimum wage across the country or lower tuition fees or create a national childcare policy, but there are I think people understand that there s an inherent injustice in asking people to do a job and then not paying them enough for their labour. still things one can do along the way. Municipalities and other organizational structures can talk to employers and start up a dialogue on living wage and the cost of living. Even if an employer cannot offer the living wage they can subsidize transportation costs or offer on-site childcare. Living wage diversifies the discussion, a whole dialogue is created that people are invited to take part in. It puts forth the question: We have a problem, now what can we do to help? It is very different from waiting for something to happen. Q. What s next for the city of New Westminster? In terms of a living wage by-law, we have an implementation process and we are conducting a more thorough review. We want to make sure we are adopting an ongoing policy and we need to look at how to ensure employers are complying with the policy. We need to figure out how we adjust the living wage and look at contracts over time. Nothing in public administration is as easy as it looks. Other municipalities will be looking at us to see how we did it so they can replicate it. We want to make sure we do it right. 128 UNLIMITED VISION