Walking the Walk, Not Just Talking the Talk

Following the last Board of Education meeting of the summer, the Transportation Aides of Buffalo, one of the groups demanding the passage of a living wage policy, requested that the members of the Board of Education try to walk in their shoes for two weeks. The statement was incredibly simple, yet incredibly powerful. "I’m asking for one of you to stand in my shoes for two weeks, make the income that I do and pay your bills. Decide whether or not you should fill your prescriptions or feed your family. Try putting gas in your car, because I don’t have one,” said Betty Martin, President of the Transportation Aides of Buffalo (TAB).

Surprisingly, Board Member Ralph Hernandez offered to take Betty up on her offer. Sort of. He asked to ride along with her on one her daily routes and get a sense of the challenges she and the other bus aides face, ranging from low wages to violence on the bus.

We commend Ralph for taking this first step towards gaining perspective regarding the critical and difficult service the bus aides provide.

On another note, EMT's, Intermediates and Paramedics at Rural Metro Medical Services voted down a recent contract proposal. Their contract with Rural Metro expired on June 30th. The proposed contract was actually a 1 year extension of the prior 5 years contract. The members of Teamsters 375 felt that the company insisted upon dictating the terms of future negotiations and the company has thus far refused to negotiate a full contract until a lawsuit under Buffalo's Living Wage Ordinance is settled.

The most disturbing element to these negotiations is the Company's refusal to discuss a full contract based on the outstanding lawsuit, particularly because the lawsuit was brought against the company by EMT's, not the Union. The Buffalo Living Wage Ordinance clearly states that anyone who contracts with the city (contracts-exchange of money for services) is required to pay their employees the living wage. Rural Metro has insisted that they are in fact not covered by the law and continue to pay their employees minimum wage.

The service that the EMT's, the Intermediates, and the Paramedics is crucial. First responders are responsible for saving lives. It appears that company believes more in profit (of which they are making plenty off of the backs of these workers) than in the safety and well being of their employees.

Rural Metro and the Teamsters hope to return to the bargaining table early next week.

Take Action! Last Board of Education Meeting July 8th-Be there!

Buffalo School District Cannot Afford Not to Pay Employees a Living Wage
Living Wage supporters ask the Board of Education to Seize the Opportunity to Pass a Living Wage Policy


Living Wage legislation has been an integral part the anti-poverty movement since the 1990’s, starting in Baltimore, Maryland in 1994. The cornerstone to the Living Wage Movement throughout the country is the recognition that through investing in low wage workers, we are in turn investing in the stability of our own communities. The city of Buffalo adopted a Living Wage Law in 1999, covering all city and contracted employees. In a short time, the living wage allowed individuals to purchase their own vehicles, keep up with inflation and returned dignity to their work. We commend the city for doing the right thing. And now we ask the Board of Education and the Superintendent to also do the right thing.

On Tuesday, July 8th, parents, students, Buffalo School District Employees and Living Wage supporters will gather on the steps of City Hall to continue to put pressure on members of the Board of Education to pass a Living Wage Policy. Food Service Workers, Transportation Aides of Buffalo, and the Coalition for Economic Justice have been working diligently to pass a Living Wage Policy that would lift over a thousand workers out of poverty. Currently these workers receive no benefits and make as little as $7.52. These numbers make for approximately $15,600 year, a figure that is clearly too little to survive on.

The broad coalition of living wage supporters has requested that the finance committee bring the Living Wage policy to the floor for a full vote from members of the Board of Education. As preparation for the upcoming school year begins, we ask that the Board of Education act on behalf of the communities they represent, which includes these one thousand (1,000) plus workers and pass this critical piece of legislation.

What: Press Conference to encourage the Board of Education to pass Living Wage Policy
Where: Steps of City Hall

When: Tuesday July 8th, 2008 at 5pm
Who: Coalition for Economic Justice, Transportation Aides of Buffalo, VOICE Buffalo,
PUSH Buffalo, Seasonal Sanitation Workers, Parents, Students, and Food Service
Workers.

IDA Reform-Another Voice Editorial from Buffalo News

Reform will hold IDAs accountable and help Buffalo
By Lou Jean Fleron Updated: 06/25/08 6:49 AM

In the first hot sun of June, citizens rallied in front of the Erie County Industrial Development Agency on Oak Street behind a banner that read “Living Wages for a Livable City.” Passing traffic in old and new cars, delivery vans and 18-wheelers honked their votes for decent jobs and living wages.

Those votes need to be translated into the passage of Assemblyman Sam Hoyt’s IDA reform legislation that will establish job standards, accountability measures, transparency procedures and environmental standards in exchange for public subsidies to private businesses.

Across New York, local IDAs deal with our money, handing out more than $400 million per year in tax breaks, too often providing subsidies that fail to promote real economic development and do not deliver the jobs they promise.

Quality job standards are good for workers, for communities, and also for business. The top 10 “pro-business states” — Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, North Carolina, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Alabama, Georgia and Nebraska — all have enacted wage standards on development subsidies.
Prevailing wage requirements also benefit taxpayers and working families. A recent study of Federal Highway Administration data found that costs per mile of highway are lower among those states which pay higher hourly wages. Because of higher productivity, the high-wage states averaged over $30,000 per mile savings to taxpayers.

Here in the Queen City, the second poorest city in America, nearly 29 percent of us live in poverty. Good jobs with health care, benefits and pensions continue to disappear. Auto workers are forced to take “buy downs” to gradually lower their standard of living to satisfy the insatiable greed of global capital markets.
Poverty, joblessness and inequality are the reasons we have economic development policies. We cannot afford to continue to perpetuate these conditions by continuing to subsidize failure. Upstate New Yorkers need good jobs, not just any jobs, as a return on our investment in business development.

In this celebrated and proud blue-collar town, people spontaneously support wages that allow families to live self-sufficiently, educate their children, buy their homes and contribute to their communities. When we give up tax revenues needed for schools, roads, parks, libraries, public safety and public health, we expect to receive in exchange living wage jobs.

The drive-by living wage supporters on Oak Street honked in solidarity because in Buffalo we stand, as Tim Russert said, “side by side, shoulder by shoulder.” Our history and our experiences teach us that a strong local economy will be built only on good jobs that attract and retain a skilled work force. That is the primary purpose of IDAs. It is time we held them accountable.

Lou Jean Fleron is director of workforce, industry and economic development at the Cornell University Industrial and Labor Relations School in Buffalo.