Cranley's 'living wage' plan gets needed votes - barely

Part-time City of Cincinnati workers and any full-time employees not already earning $15 an hour will get a raise after Cincinnati City Council's Budget and Finance Committee voted for a measure that sets a so-called "living" or minimum wage.

The bill also would boost the pay for part-time and seasonal workers to $10.10 per hour. Together, the pay hikes would benefit 1,166 workers, of 1 of every 5 city workers.

Councilman Chris Seelbach wavered, upset the raises would be granted outside the budget process. In the end, he voted alongside his fellow Democrats for the series of proposed city labor and workplace safety reforms proposed by Mayor John Cranley.

It was no easy task getting to passage, with a nearly two-hour, question-filled discussion.

For it: Seelbach, David Mann, Yvette Simpson, P.G. Sittenfeld and Wendell Young.

Against it: Republican Amy Murray and Charterite Kevin Flynn.

Abstained: Independent Christopher Smitherman and Republican Charlie Winburn.

It moves to full council Wednesday. Mann called for workers under the age of 21 to be excluded.

The vote came despite a new estimate that showed the cost to taxpayers could be as much as $1.2 million, more than twice what was previously anticipated.

"I do think if we're going to build the middle class we have to lead by example," Cranley said. "There's a national movement of wanting to make sure the prosperity we've seen after the Great Recession is evenly spread."

Seelbach took issue with the process, calling it political. He wanted to see the ordinances included in the fiscal year 2017 budget, where council members could see what – if anything – was being cut to pay for the raises.

City officials anticipate a $6.5 million deficit in fiscal year 2017, which starts July 1.

Several union leaders came forward in support of the wage laws.

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber is against the plan.

In a letter released to the media, Jason Kershner, the chamber's vice president for government affairs, wrote: "The Chamber opposes the proposed living wage ordinance, despite its limited scope, as it is unsound fiscal policy when the City faces a significant budget deficit."

Kershner warned that if the ordinances were approved as currently drafted, "the Chamber will include the votes as part of our City Council Business Votes Scorecard."

Cranley and other officials hope that private businesses will follow suit if the city pays its workers more.

The council members also voted on a prevailing wage law, that would extend the state's prevailing wage law to local workers. Their votes were the same as for the "living" or minimum wage.

Cranley has argued that developers and lawyers have become increasingly sophisticated at structuring economic development agreements in ways that provide government subsidies to private entities without triggering the state of Ohio’s prevailing wage law. The law requires contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers, workers, and mechanics employed on public works construction projects or demolitions no less than the prevailing wage where the work is performed. Wages are set by county based on local union collective bargaining agreements.

Chad Day, an electrician with Local 212 called for passage of the Living Wage and Prevailing Wage ordinances. "I think passage of the living wage and prevailing wage are both bold steps forward."