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Cities should pay living wage to employees

With the probable construction of its new baseball stadium, Detroit may soon become another metropolitan city to embark on a major downtown re-development project. One of the main goals of such programs is to create jobs. However, many of these jobs are low-wage service positions. To improve the situation, some cities have advanced a novel idea -- a minimum "living wage" that all of the cities' contractors must pay. Detroit, and other cities in similar situations, should put this idea into action.

As municipal governments slashed budgets and privatized during the past few years, many workers have lost their well-paying public sector jobs. Government employees usually were protected by generous contracts and were well-compensated. The increase in private contracts and public works projects has led to new job creation; but these jobs -- usually in the service sector -- often pay at or near the federal minimum wage.

Unfortunately, the minimum wage offers little protection to workers; it has fallen behind the cost-of-living since the 1970s. Moreover, the Republican-controlled Congress has refused to approve even the most menial increase in the minimum wage, let alone restore its earning power to the level it was 25 years ago.

These harsh realities have caused municipalities to take matters into their own hands. The result is the "living wage" movement, which supports the establishment of minimum wages that firms -- which do business within the cities -- are required to pay employees. These minimum living wages are intended to provide workers with the means to adequately support their families, and they often mirror the wages offered to public employees.

Currently, only a few cities, such as Baltimore and Milwaukee, have adopted this program. However, the idea is spreading, with more than 30 cities nationwide moving toward similar plans.

An adequate federally mandated minimum wage would be better than a city-by-city approach, but the living wage idea is a good start. Wage stagnation for working people is one of the greatest problems confronting America today. The proposal would begin to alleviate the problem. Economic changes over the past 20 years, such as public downsizing, have hit large cities especially hard hit; thus this urban approach is especially appropriate.

Furthermore, privatization is saving cities money and public-private ventures, such as stadiums and downtown development plans, bring in tax revenue. City governments have an obligation to help workers whose pocketbooks have been adversely affected by shifts in the economy. These changes have pushed them from high-paying public jobs into lower-paying private service jobs.

As Detroit and other cities see their economies change, they cannot rely on the U.S. government to protect their workers. It is encouraging that some cities have taken matters into their own hands. If this trend continues, the working men and women of America's cities will be the winners.