Published Wednesday, November 18, 1998, in the San Jose Mercury News Council passes living-wage, labor-organizing package BY BARRY WITT Mercury News Staff Writer San Jose Mayor Susan Hammer and local labor leaders scored a historic victory late Tuesday as the city council adopted the highest new minimum wage rates in the country for employees of city contractors and an apparently unprecedented requirement to help unions organize those companies' employees. Before a joyous, overflow crowd of union, church and community activists, the council voted 7-3 to require various city contractors to pay a ``living wage'' of at least $9.50 an hour if the company provides health benefits or $10.75 an hour if benefits aren't provided. There was a narrow 6-5 council majority favoring the living wage, but a vote had not been expected until next week when supporter Margie Fernandes returned from a conference in Portugal. Passage became possible Tuesday night when Councilmen David Pandori and John Diquisto reversed their positions and said they would support it. The labor peace proposal seemed threatened with defeat, but Councilwoman Alice Woody reversed her position of a day earlier and said she would support it. In the end, the only council members to oppose the package were Pat Dando, Frank Fiscalini and George Shirakawa. ``Tonight is our opportunity to feature the other side of Silicon Valley,'' Amy Dean, chief executive of the South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council told a rally outside City Hall before the meeting. ``Tonight is to talk about the faces and complexions that are not published in the business pages.'' Hammer described the living wage as ``a step toward addressing the plight of those struggling to provide for their families in a high-cost region such as Silicon Valley.'' She called it a ``first step'' and urged her successors to expand it. Hammer leaves office next month. The living wage rates are $3 an hour less than what supporters had been seeking but are still the highest among any of 17 other cities nationwide -- including Los Angeles and Oakland -- that have adopted similar requirements. The related ``labor peace'' measure will require companies seeking city service contracts to provide ``assurances of protection against labor discord'' over the life of the contract. The assurances have not been spelled out, but the options officials have outlined would make it easier for unions to organize workers. City Attorney Joan Gallo has said such assurances could include not only a signed union contract but also allowing unions to attempt to organize under a ``card check'' procedure -- which unions prefer over the traditional secret ballots. Under a card check, the union would be recognized if a majority of workers sign cards approving union representation. City officials could point to no other city in the nation that has a similar requirement for bidders on city contracts, and its inclusion in the living-wage proposal was fought bitterly by city business interests. Radio station owner Bob Kieve, a board member with the San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the labor peace provision would send a message to contractors that ``you can be assured you're going to hold on to your (city) business only if you give labor anything that it demands.'' He suggested the council had become ``an auxiliary of the Central Labor Council.'' More than 500 living-wage supporters turned out at the council meeting. Only two business leaders spoke against it. The wage requirements would apply to contractors providing services ranging from auto repair to security. Contracts valued at less than $20,000 and contracts issued by the city's Redevelopment Agency would be exempt. The policy also leaves out low-wage workers at San Jose International Airport. In total, City Manager Regina V.K. Williams estimated that 500 employees of city contractors would get raises over the next 18 months at a cost to those companies of about $2 million, with an unknown portion of that amount being passed back to the city. Another 200 or so part-time city employees, mostly summer recreation workers, also would get raises because their pay now falls below the new living-wage standard. City officials have said the largest group of workers who will be affected are those employed by Volume Services America under its food service contract at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. Volume's contract expires at the end of this year -- although it may be extended through 1999. Companies proposing to take on the contract after that time will have to comply with the living-wage policy. The policy also includes a requirement that any company awarded a new contract by the city would have to offer jobs to the employees of the city's former contractor. The services covered under the policy are automotive repair and maintenance; food service; janitorial; landscaping; laundry; office/clerical; parking-lot management; pest control; property maintenance; recreation; security' shuttle services; street sweeping; and towing. ©1997 - 1998 Mercury Center