Nearly 200 San Diego students and community partners marched the streets of downtown San Diego on Oct. 21 in hopes of increasing awareness and support for a living wage ordinance. Starting at San Diego City College, students and fellow supporters of the campaign charged ahead at 3 p.m. and did not stop until they reached the steps of City Hall.
Waging on: Supporters of a living wage ordinance marched from San Diego City College to City Hall as part of the San Diego Living Wage Campaign.
Students and supporters brandished signs with slogans like, “”Let us afford to live in San Diego,”” while chanting cheers as they marched to rally in front of City Hall. The march was organized to raise support from city council members and increase awareness of the Responsible Wage and Health Care Benefits Ordinance throughout the community.
The San Diego Living Wage Campaign began over a year ago, but the nationwide effort to raise wages and health benefit coverage started in 1994, and has since succeeded in establishing 110 living wage laws throughout the United States. Created in order to combat increased living expenses and aid uninsured individuals, the living wage ordinance seeks to “”require employers who benefit from contracts, subsidies or other public resources to pay a Œliving wage’ and provide health benefits.””
In local terms, the living wage ordinance proposed for the City of San Diego would set pay for city employees, such as concession operators, janitors and security guards, at a minimum of $11.95 per hour as well as provide workers with adequate health insurance or a health care differential.
Victoria Samaha, a member of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said her motivation to support the campaign is due to her familiarity with the area’s living costs.
“”We’re involved because our members live in low- to medium-income neighborhoods,”” Samaha said.
Samaha described how the ordinance, if passed, could help two families she knows who are forced to share a small apartment due to the high living costs in San Diego.
Paul Karr, a representative from the Center on Policy Initiatives, a research and policy development center based in San Diego, explained that if the law passed, it would affect around 2,000 workers in the region. The campaign also insists that “”a living wage ordinance in San Diego would have a small but positive impact on the local economy and on businesses.””
The Center on Policy Initiatives is the main organization behind the living wage campaign in San Diego.
Supporters of the ordinance point to some 110 already established living wage laws situated throughout the United States, including the cities and institutions of San Jose, Calif.; Baltimore, Md.; and Harvard University. A study of the effects of the living wage in Baltimore conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers in 1999 concluded that “”the living wage ordinance has had positive effects on a relatively small number of workers in Baltimore without significant financial cost to the city Š the evidence suggests that higher wages and hours improve the stability and reliability of the workforce.”” In addition, supporters of the ordinance maintain that the living wage law would benefit businesses as well as their employees.
Karr explained that an essential goal of the ordinance is not only to aid underpaid families, but also to ensure the responsible use of tax dollars. While the city government and local businesses would have to foot the bill for the wage increases, campaign supporters argue that these extra costs would be offset by increased productivity and decreased reliance on public assistance programs such as food stamps and Medi-Cal.
Living wage organizations claim that a period of economic downturn is the best time to enact such a policy.
Christina Ruiz-Goldberg, a San Diego State University student and member of Students for Economic Justice, explained that because San Diego is one of the largest and most expensive cities in California, the living wage law should be passed. As one of the organizers of the Oct. 21 march, Ruiz-Goldberg described her hope that the rally at City Hall would “”let [city council members] know students care about a living wage.””
Although the living wage ordinance would only affect workers employed by businesses subsidized or financially supported by the City of San Diego, student organizations like the California Coalition Against Poverty at San Diego City College and Just Cause at University of San Diego hope that San Diego students will also benefit from the ordinance. Pointing to the highly successful campaign at Harvard University in 2001, supporters hope that the law will help combat recent tuition hikes at UCSD, SDSU and San Diego City College.
Karr likewise described his optimism in gaining support from the majority of city council members, but had reservations about support from Mayor Dick Murphy. He explained that most of the opposition faced by the campaign has come from “”conservative business leaders who want to increase their profit margins.””
Endorsed by numerous faith-based, community, labor and student organizations and individuals, including Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, California Coalition Against Poverty and several UCSD professors, the campaign will attempt to aid struggling families and individuals unable to support themselves.
The campaign hopes to have the living wage ordinance enacted by spring of 2004, but the next step for supporters will be getting the vote of the City Council Rules Committee on Nov. 5 before a vote by the committee. The ordinance must be passed by the Rules Committee in order to be reviewed by the full city council.
