OPINION & EDITORIAL
Fair wage ordinance will now allow for public input
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by Ald. Austin King
Thursday, December 4, 2003
Before I begin, I want to thank the hundreds of mostly student volunteers and the thousands of Madison residents that said yes to a fair wage for Madison. It was your enduring effort and diligent work that led to the unprecedented success of collecting 13,136 signatures in 60 days in support of a higher minimum wage ? the record for the most signatures collected on any issue in the history of the City of Madison. This overwhelming victory is yours.
Several days after we began making history in September, Mayor Cieslewicz introduced an ordinance to the Common Council to create an indexed $7.75 municipal minimum wage, identical in substance to the campaign’s. He prefers the Council process because it allows for more public input and will improve our legal case when big business sues to overturn the fair wage law.
As has been reported, after lengthy and difficult discussions, the Madison Fair Wage Steering Committee voted to use the considerable political force of 13,136 signatures to support the Mayor’s ordinance instead of a referendum. The Steering Committee is comprised of delegates from each of the member organizations that were collecting signatures, including our student government ASM, and our co-chairs, Rep. Terese Berceau and Rep. Mark Pocan, a small business owner.
The Council process, however slow it might be, gets its strength precisely because of its deliberative nature. This ordinance will be examined at length by the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Economic Development Commission, and the Board of Estimates to ensure that every sentence in the eight-page document works. At each of the many meetings each committee will have, the public will be encouraged to share their input so that we can tweak the legislation to best fit Madison.
This is not, however, an exercise in watering down a strong bill so that it becomes irrelevant. I will vigorously oppose any permanent exemptions or weakening of the proscribed wage. Mayor Cieslewicz joins me in steadfast support of the fundamental tenets of the ordinance ? a $7.75 wage indexed to inflation with strong enforcement.
There may be small changes we can make, though, that will improve the ordinance. We have heard recently that those in the disabled community fear a loss of governmental benefits should they receive a raise, and crafting language that avoids this consequence is something all sides can agree on. We may also want to tweak the structure of the ordinance to more closely comply with state law so as to put ourselves in the best possible legal position when big business eventually sues to overturn a fair wage.
This week’s editorial board piece from the Badger Herald does not recognize the value in a process through which the public may actually give input into the formulating and drafting of the ordinance. A perfect example of this is in the original process, which could not be altered without another referendum, was that our phase-in for small business and non-profits only applied to those with 10 or fewer employees. Many small business owners like the idea of the phase-in, but would rather the definition of small business be raised to 15 employees, or altered to measure income and not employees. These ideas could never have been included within the referendum process, but now will be at the table under the normal process through which virtually all ordinances pass.
The misguided Herald opinion also set a dangerous precedent by demanding that bodies of elected representatives do nothing important without a referendum. The Herald has previously claimed that, “Alders did not campaign on the minimum-wage issue when running for City Council.” This claim is laughable, considering it was a prominent issue in a majority of contested races and their reason for not endorsing me. Out of five competitive races grilled by the South Central Federation of Labor about a local minimum wage, both my opponent and I supported it, Ald. Greg Markle, District 15, supported it, Ald. Brian Benford, District 12, supported it, and Ald. Robbie Webber, District 5, supported it. Additionally, Candidate Cieslewicz supported an $8.00/hr minimum wage, a key factor in his victory. Even if, as the Herald incorrectly claimed, no one had campaigned successfully on this issue, that is no excuse to demand we take no action. Limiting our votes to what literally appeared in our campaign platform is a ridiculous demand that flies in the face of the concept of representative government.
To clear up some other glaring factual errors from the editorial: the final signature count was from after we had already crossed off the approximately 1,100 signatures that were from outside Madison. Also, the petition reads, “I, the undersigned, a qualified elector of the City of Madison, request that the attached proposed ordinance either be adopted by the Common Council or referred to a vote of the electors without alteration.” Even under the referendum process, the Council could have enacted the ordinance without a referendum. It does not read “we don’t support a minimum wage but we’d like the people to vote on it instead of the Council.” If Herald editorial board members signed that particular petition, they were the only ones in the city who did.
The Madison Fair Wage Campaign has made history, and the people of Madison know that $5.15/hr. is not enough for anyone to survive, especially if they have kids. The record-setting signature pile we’re standing on is too tall for the Council to ignore. To keep the pressure on, as well as defeat a West Bend Republican’s attempt to kill this effort with a preemptive state bill, please visit www.madisonfairwage.org. Thanks again to all our fantastic volunteers and the thousands of residents who support a fair wage for Madison.
Ald. Austin King (district8@cityofmadison.com) is the Madison City Alder for District 8. He may be contacted at 608-266-4071. He is a senior majoring in Spanish.
