And as it did 11 years ago, the City Council Thursday threw its support behind a measure that encourages business owners to offer that chance and pay their employees a living wage.
The nonbinding resolution, which passed unanimously, defines a living wage as $11.90 an hour, or enough for an individual to meet basic needs such as housing, transportation, food and health care. The state's minimum wage is $8 an hour for full-time work.
In 1999, a similar resolution defined living wage as $7.49 an hour with health insurance or $9 without. The council will take a second vote on the measure in two weeks.
"I don't know how anybody can live on $8 an hour," said Ward 6 City Councilor Marianne L. LaBarge. "I hope businesses look at this very seriously here in Northampton."
The resolution, sponsored by most city councilors, the Human Rights Commission and Mayor Clare Higgins, cannot mandate that employers pay a living wage. But it does state that the city will attempt to do business with employers that pay living wages and will encourage people to patronize those businesses.
Also supporting the resolution is the 16-member Northampton Living Wage Coalition. Like other supporters, the coalition believes that a living wage is a human right. Its members note that many people who work in Northampton are unable to afford their basic needs.
"I see people who area working who are struggling to meet their basic needs, who are in danger of losing their homes," said Kitty Callaghan, an attorney who works for Western Mass. Legal Services.
Others say that lack of a living wage is forcing many residents to move, a trend they'd like to reverse. At-Large City Councilor Michael R. Bardsley, one of the sponsors of the first living wage resolutions in 1998, said raising community awareness in order to keep a variety of people in the city is the heart of the issue.
"The more we lose people, it weakens the community," he said.
Callaghan acknowledged that many employers face steep challenges and might be reluctant to embrace a living wage. That's why the resolution comes with incentives for businesses.
Employers who don't pay a living wage would get credit for providing subsidies such as child care, food discounts and transportation. The resolution also states that the city will publicly acknowledge all city businesses for paying their employees a living wage.
"We don't want to see employers have to reduce staff or have to reduce hours to pay that living wage," Callaghan said.
David Kotz, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, told the council that numerous studies have shown that living wage increases do not have a noticeable effect on businesses nor do they lead to greater unemployment. Instead, he said, employers become more efficient at using their work force.
"We have an opportunity here in Northampton to build an economy in which all workers get a wage they can live on," said Kotz, of 18 Pilgrim Drive.
The resolution does not apply to government-funded youth programs, internships, temporary employees or employees in probationary status, apprenticeships or to employees under 18 who work fewer than 35 hours a week.
The living wage is determined by using data from the Crittenton Women's Union and the Northampton Housing Authority to calculate a basic needs budget for a single person without children. It will be annually adjusted.
But through all the facts and figures, it was a child's voice that stood out. She spoke in favor of the resolution and called her single mother "amazing" for raising two children.
"Everyone deserves a chance," she said, eliciting a round of applause from the standing-room-only crowd.
Email this page
