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Labor Wins in Eastpointe
State Legislature Threatens Living Wage
Amid cheers from the audience, Eastpointe became the second city in Macomb
County—and the fifty-ninth in the U.S.—to adopt a living wage
ordinance. The vote by the city council was unanimous.
Prior to casting their votes, the council expressed pride in their ability
to get a higher quality of service while helping to raise the standard
of living.
The current national minimum wage is only $5.15 per hour. This would
leave a working family of four below the poverty level of $16,500. Rep.
David Bonior (D-Mich.) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced a bill
to raise the minimum wage, but passage is not likely to happen because
the Congress and White House are dominated by conservatives.
Living wage ordinances only apply to businesses that have service contracts
with cities or townships. Businesses that provide health care coverage
would only have to pay their workers about $8.50 per hour. If they do
not provide health care coverage, the living wage would go up to $10 per
hour.
The Eastpointe Coalition for a Living Wage was formed about a year ago.
It is currently co-chaired by Clarice Squillace, a UAW Local 909 retiree,
and David Kruschinoka, a member of Millwright Local 1102. By garnering
support from city council members and many labor organizations, including
the UAW, the ordinance passed.
Despite the passage of the living wage ordinance, trouble looms on the
home front. County newspapers have received a press release from the Libertarians
of Macomb County. With the support of the Eastpointe Chamber of Commerce,
the Libertarians are threatening to start a petition drive to repeal the
ordinance through a ballot initiative in the upcoming municipal elections.
If the Libertarians don’t kill the living wage ordinance, the state
legislature hopes to. As of this writing, House Bill 4328 has just come
out of committee onto the State House floor. This bill would forbid local
governments from setting wage requirements. House Bill 4328 has to be
considered a major threat to the ordinance and home rule because its impact
would be retroactive.
Our third president, Thomas Jefferson, may not have been thinking of
organized labor when he used the words “Take not from the mouths
of labor” in his inaugural address. But it is obviously true today
that someone needs to look out for the entire working class, whether they
are union members or not. That someone must be organized labor. It is
in our interests to fight for the interests of all working men and women.
Clarice Squillace
UAW Local 909
Next: Director's Report
Region 1
Ken Terry, director
Joe Peters, assistant director
Region 1 regional
office
30755 Montpelier
Madison Heights, MI 48071-5110
313-926-5341/42
313-564-6510/11
248-583-1700
248-645-2400
fax: 248-588-3555
Subregional
offices
3520 Military
Street
Port Huron, MI 48060-6639
810-982-4891
220 Wellington
Street West
Chatham, Ontario N7M 1J6
519-360-9888
800-387-0538
fax: 519-360-9222
Members are invited
to submit information to the regional or subregional offices.
Action Line is published four times a year as an insert to
UAW’s Solidarity magazine.
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