Finally, some very good news for the left and labor movement. After a long, bitter struggle, the LA Living Wage ordinance passed 12 - 0, with three abstensions. Mayor Richard Riordan had promised to veto the ordinance, but with a 12-vote majority, the ordinance is now veto proof! Though the coverage is still very small--directly probably about 5,000 workers--it should help unions to fight for new wage norms throughout the city. This victory was the result of an extremely well organized and effective labor/progressive coalition. Several people at UC-Riverside, including me, worked with the coalition in producing research, including a full scale study, "The Economics of the Los Angeles Living Wage Ordinance." There are great lessons here about what it takes to win something worthwhile. One thing is that well-supported appeals to social justice really can be effective at the local level, where the dominance of big money corporate politics is far less pervasive--even in a big city like LA. -- Bob Pollin ******************************************** Robert Pollin Department of Economics Univesity of California-Riverside Riverside, CA 92521-0427 (909) 787-5037, ext 1579 (office); (909) 788-8106 (home) (909) 787-5685 (fax); [EMAIL PROTECTED] (e-mail)