Readers weigh in on `living wage' plan

Sunday, 16 January 2000

By Thomas Stauffer
The Arizona Daily Star

Mayor Bob Walkup has yet to decide how much employers should pay per hour to qualify for his proposed ``Mayor's Living Wage Club,'' but Star readers responding yesterday to a survey were quick with numbers.
Readers may have disagreed on the dollar amount, urging amounts ranging from $7 to $12.50 per hour, but all said that health insurance should be included with wages.
Burghardt Turner, who advocated a wage of at least $8 per hour, said employers should provide health insurance and five or more days of sick leave.
``Less than that is exploitative poverty,'' Turner said. ``Less than that destroys the person's incentive to work.''
Forty-one readers responded to the Star's informal survey. Twenty-two offered their assessment of a living wage, averaging $8.85 per hour.
George Chism said his son, who has worked at Target for a year and a half, cannot afford a place of his own.
``He doesn't make enough to get out from under my roof,'' said Chism, whose son makes $5.50 per hour. ``You just can't make a living out here on that.''
Several people pointed to the plight of teachers in Tucson, saying they don't make a living wage.
``I would imagine that TUSD (Tucson Unified School District) certainly wouldn't qualify for the Mayor's Club,'' Julie L. Tatum said. ``Every year, more and more teachers change professions, simply to earn a living wage.''
Randy Serraglio said the living wage should be at least as much as the requirement the City Council passed last year for contractors doing business with the city.
Those businesses are required to pay $8 per hour with benefits or $9 without benefits.
``After all, the minimum wage now would be $7.50 if it had kept pace with inflation since the '60s, when it was established,'' Serraglio said. ``Anything less is a feel-good sham for businesses.''
Walkup proposed the voluntary Mayor's Living Wage Club in his State of the City speech Friday as a creative approach to improving Tucson's low-wage status.
Businesses that joined the club would get a sticker to put in their windows, the mayor said.
A restaurant owner said his menu prices would have to increase only 15 cents per item for him to pay a living wage. Two Star readers suggested other ways to provide low-income workers with a livable wage.
``If Mayor Walkup is really serious about living wages, then I urge him to mount a campaign to abolish mandatory FICA taxes on low-wage earners, especially under-aged employees who can't even vote,'' H.M. Thompson said.
Karl Dennis called Walkup's plan to ask employers to willingly provide a living wage ``a sham, a folly, a false road to the end of low wages in Tucson.''
``Our mayor would do better to advocate the end of this state's Right to Work provision,'' Dennis said.
``The way out of Tucson's workers receiving a wage that does not permit them to take care of their children is for them to negotiate contracts with their employers, through unions.''
Even the most naive of Tucson's citizens knows that the goal of employers is ``to get the best worker for the very least pay,'' Dennis said. ``It's called capitalism, good business, the way to make profits.''
Bob Lindgren, who questioned the idea of ``trying to force a fixed price in a free market,'' said salary is not the No. 1 factor in keeping good employees.
``Several studies show it ranks third in importance,'' Lindgren said. ``My personal experience is that employees appreciate being appreciated and having a job that is fun.''

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