Labor & Employment Law

Northampton, Mass., City Council Backs Living Wage

By James Parks

With working families trying to stretch every dollar to make ends meet, the City Council in Northampton, Mass., last night unanimously gave final approval to a resolution defining a living wage as a human right. The nonbinding resolution also states the city will attempt to do business with employers that pay living wages and will encourage people to patronize those businesses.

The resolution was sponsored by the 16-member Northampton Living Wage Coalition, most city council members, the Human Rights Commission and the mayor. The resolution defines a living wage as a salary sufficient to meet basic needs such as housing, transportation, food and health care. Using data from the Northampton Housing Authority and the Crittenton Women’s Union, the coalition calculated a living wage in Northampton for a single person without children at $11.90 per hour. The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $8 per hour.

The resolution urges employers who pay less than $11.90 an hour to provide other benefits, such as food and transportation discounts.

Fiore Grassetti, president of the Hampshire/Franklin Central Labor Council, one of the Living Wage Coalition members, says:

Unions hold employers to higher community standards regarding wages, hours and working conditions. The Hampshire/Franklin CLC got behind the Northampton Living Wage Coalition as a broader way to do that, with community allies. We very much appreciate the City Council getting on board and will be reaching out to other municipalities to follow suit.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on December 04, 2009 (boomark / email).