EO mayor promotes $15-an-hour minimum wage

EAST ORANGE, NJ — East Orange — which once received national acclaim for being one of the cleanest cities in America; for its innovative use of technology to combat persistent, long-running law enforcement concerns; and for the Police Department’s historic reductions in crime through the direction of former police Director Jose Cordero during former Mayor Robert Bowser’s administration — is now, during Mayor Lester Taylor’s leadership, leading the way on the issue of livable wages and increasing the minimum wage in New Jersey to $15 an hour.

On Thursday, Feb. 4, the same day legislation sponsored by Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto, D-32, and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, D-19, to increase New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour was introduced in Trenton, Taylor had a press conference to announce his administration’s groundbreaking contract settlement with the city employees in the Communication Workers of America Local 1077 that included incremental pay increases until the $15-an-hour plateau is reached.

“We hear a lot of people advocating for a $15-an-hour age for hourly workers and the new CWA contract puts East Orange in the forefront of a labor movement that is progressively gaining momentum locally, statewide and throughout the nation,” said Taylor on Thursday, Feb. 4. “East Orange has already demonstrated support for this increase and we will continue to support smart legislation that provides long-term benefits to strengthen working families in our communities. We’re setting the standard so that our employees can afford to have a roof over their heads; can afford to save; can afford to reinvest in this community; which helps grow not only our economy, but the middle class.”

Taylor said raising New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour “also helps attract and retain hard-working, committed workers.” Other municipal leaders, such as Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and Bloomfield Mayor Michael Venezia have agree with him.

On Wednesday, March 16, Baraka announced Newark would move to a $15-an-hour minimum wage by 2018. This was following the press conference by Taylor and Venezia on Monday, March 7, on the steps of East Orange City Hall, in which they announced the city’s new partnership with Bloomfield, New Jersey Working Families and others to promote a statewide minimum wage increase to a $15-an-hour living wage.

“I want to thank the Working Families Alliance for their advocacy and leadership in raising awareness on this issue across the entire state of New Jersey; Analilia Mejia is doing a phenomenal job,” said Taylor on Monday, March 7. “I want to thank Mayor Venezia for his leadership and that leadership of his City Council in passing an ordinance this evening to raise their wages to $15 an hour. And I also want to thank Bennie Brantley and our local CWA union for their partnership as we worked at the bargaining table to negotiate the wage increase and the contract through the collective bargaining process which is something we value, we appreciate, and we are leading being the first city in the state to achieve this through that means.”

Brantley, the president of CWA Local 1077, and Mejia, the executive director of New Jersey Working Families, were also at the press conference on Monday, March 7.

Venezia said East Orange, Newark and Jersey City are not his towns, but they now all have something very important in common. He also thanked Taylor for leading the way on an issue that is near and dear to all of them.

“I wanted to join in with the mayor to be out here today,” said Venezia on Monday, March 7. “We are introducing it tonight in the form of a resolution and we are also introducing our budget tonight and we put all the appropriated salaries in our budget. It’s important because I believe everyone should be up to $15 an hour to be up at a living wage. You get a person that’s only making $10 to $12 an hour, they’re not bringing home a lot of money per week and the cost of living keeps on going up.”

Venezia said, contrary to the opinions of many people who oppose the $15-an-hour minimum wage increase, the Bloomfield business community supports it. He said the increase “is actually going to benefit the local economy because, chances are, they’re going to spend that money at a Bloomfield business or an East Orange business.”

“It has a ripple effect,” said Venezia. “I love all our local businesses, but a handful of them, when we did the earned sick leave ordinance, they were complaining like ‘well this and that,’ but I haven’t heard one peep from them since we initiated it. They haven’t complained workers are taking advantage of it; this and that. So it’s been working nice and smooth. We’re very happy with everything. I’m going to keep on plugging away with a progressive agenda so that’s about it.”

Brantley said a progressive agenda that includes workers’ rights is a good thing. He also said he’s proud to be part of the $15-an-hour minimum wage vanguard, including New Jersey Working Families, the city of East Orange, Bloomfield and others that is leading the way, when it comes to fair pay and a livable wage.

“In order for a movement to be effective, it has to have team effort; it has to have a coalition across the board in order for it to move in the direction that you want it to move in,” said Brantley on Monday, March 7. “It’s just something that people realize the workers are important and it’s important that they have a living wage, so they can come to work and feel pride in their work, and to be able to take care of themselves and their families. In this economy that we live in, the current minimum wage is disastrous. You can’t do anything with it. You can’t even buy a decent meal, much less pay your rent. It’s very bad and it takes innovative and legislative bodies and mayors, who have the knowledge that workers are important.”

  FEATURED, Mayor Lester Taylor, Minimum Wage