A coalition made up of local businesses and organizations filed a lawsuit Friday against the city’s proposed minimum wage increase ordinance.
The group, Main Street Coalition for Economic Growth, has filed a restraining order against the city for the creation of the wage increase ordinance. An emergency hearing on the lawsuit will take place before Jan. 1 when the ordinance increase goes into effect.
According to George Twigg, communications director for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, there has been an expectation regarding the lawsuit for months.
“It’s not surprising, but it is disappointing,” Twigg said. “[W]e hoped it wouldn’t come to this; people need to have adequate income … we knew from the beginning big businesses would spend all the money they can to work it down.”
Gov. Jim Doyle supported a statewide minimum wage increase earlier this year, which would have raised the wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.50 an hour by Oct. 2005. The Joint Committee for Review of Administrative rules voted down the proposal in September.
“It’s ironic that this new group has many … members lobbying the hardest against state minimum wage,” Twigg said. “And now they’re saying we can’t have wage islands [in cities].”
Ald. Austin King, District 4, has been one of the forerunners for wage increase in Madison over the past year. King said the group of politicians and business owners who have not been in support of the wage increase lost at the city level due to the fact that the ordinance passed in March.
“They’re continuing to argue a proposal that’s already been passed … now they’re going to take it to the last resort, to the courts, and they’re going to lose there, too,” King said.
According to King, the city stands on excellent legal footing against the lawsuit, since the proposal failed at the state level. Trying to fight it at the city level is “frivolous,” he said.
The city has already sent out materials to businesses, while the Equal Opportunity Commission has hosted several learning sessions and programs to educate local businesses.
“People know about the $5.75 increase,” King said. “And I really doubt any judge will grant any sort of preliminary injunction [on the city] now.”
Cieslewicz called the lawsuit “disappointing.”
“The Equal Opportunity Commission has already held numerous trainings to assist local businesses in meeting their responsibilities under the new ordinance,” Cieslewicz said in a release. “This lawsuit is disappointing to me, but I’m sure it’s even more disappointing to the hard-working families who would benefit from the minimum wage ordinance.”
The City Council agreed to raise the minimum wage in March 2004. The wage will increase to $5.70 Jan. 1, 2005, and will follow similar increases to $6.50 in January 2007, $7.25 in January 2006 and finally end at $7.75 in January 2008.
“The bottom line is that paying workers a fair wage is good for them, good for the businesses that employ them and good for the community they live in. The city will vigorously fight this lawsuit,” Cieslewicz said in the release.
The coalition behind the lawsuit includes groups such as the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the Wisconsin Grocers Association and the Dane County Tavern League, according to the Capital Times.
