Minimum wage petition runs into trouble
The City Attorney's Office says a petition for a higher minimum wage in Greensboro is invalid. The Greensboro Minimum Wage Petition Committee says it's good.
The City Council can take a stab at the question this evening if it wants, but it might prefer to seek a third opinion.
My opinion is that the City Attorney's Office is right, but no one calls me Your Honor. Eventually, real judges might decide this interesting case.
Assistant City Attorney Terry Wood, in a Dec. 10 memo, pointed out that petitioners didn't gather enough signatures.
The city ordinance (2.71) says: "Voters seeking to propose an ordinance subject to initiative shall proceed by way of initiative petition addressed to the Council and containing the full text of the proposed ordinance. Any initiative petition must be filed with the city clerk and must be signed by qualified voters of the city equal in number to at least 25% of the qualified voters of the city who voted at the last preceding election for City Council members."
The petition was filed with the city clerk Dec. 3, a year after the petition was registered with the county board of elections office. A year ago, petitioners set out to collect the required number of signatures based on the voter turnout in November 2005. Unfortunately for them, by the time they filed their petition, another city election had occurred, and it drew a much larger number of voters. Thus, their 25 percent threshold was raised, and they failed to meet it.
Responding for the petitioners, Edward L. Whitfield, who is not a lawyer, complains this isn't fair because, beginning their campaign 11 months before the November 2007 election, they would have had to guess at how many signatures they needed. True. But they could have avoided that problem by filing their petition before Nov. 6, 2007. Then the November 2005 election still would have been the most recent and stood as their (shorter) yardstick.
Wood also cites General Statute 160A-174(b)(2) that prohibits a local ordinance that "makes unlawful an act, omission or condition which is expressly made lawful by State or federal law." Wood argues that the fact the state has enacted its own minumum wage, which is lower than the proposed Greensboro minimum wage, means the city can't make it unlawful for Greensboro businesses to pay wages that the state regards as lawful.
Whitfield answers that the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 "specifically provides that states and municipalities can set higher standards than the federal minimum," and that many do.
I'm sure Whitfield is right about that, to an extent. However, he may be overlooking the fact that, in North Carolina, city governments are considered legal extensions of state government and can't exert powers not authorized by the state. Therefore, while North Carolina cities may raise local minimum wages above federal standards as the FLSA says, they can only do so with permission from the state.
That's just my interpretation, but we've certainly seen the state dictate what cities may do in terms of smoking regulations, to cite one example. Raleigh can do the same here, too. But perhaps that should be tested in court.
From the standpoint of local autonomy, I could argue for granting discretion to municipalities. But I could argue the other way from a public policy perspective. After all, different wage standards from city to city and county to county could create lots of confusion and inequity.
So, that's my take. People smarter than I am will have to decide who's right or wrong.
Comments (11)
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Doug said, "I'm sure Whitfield is right about that, to an extent. However, he may be overlooking the fact that, in North Carolina, city governments are considered legal extensions of state government and can't exert powers not authorized by the state. Therefore, while North Carolina cities may raise local minimum wages above federal standards as the FLSA says, they can only do so with permission from the state."
There's a big problem with that argument in that Federal courts struck down that same excuse when the City of Santa Fe attempted it in 2006 saying that municipalities granted police powers by the state have the right to raise minimum wage.
Like most cities in America Greensboro has been granted police powers by the State and this is nothing more than a poorly thought bluff on the part of the City of Greensboro and yet another example of cowardly and inept leadership.
Posted on December 18, 2007 7:19 PM
As one who has worked for many unions, raising the minimum wage does not work. you hurt a lot of small operations, and the rest shift the cost to the consumer. If one works for minimum wage, that's what they are worth. Very few people could not make more money with a little extra effort. Sadly we have become a nation of let the government take care of me. With the sales tax being higher in NC, we already have folks going to Va. to shop, and buy gas, Added cost means less business.
Posted on December 19, 2007 6:47 AM
The North Carolina Supreme Court has already decided this issue of local authority in the 2001 case of Williams v. Blue Cross/Blue Shield of NC v. Orange County Human Relations Commission, 357 N.C. 170. In this case, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled a similar attempt by Orange County to regulate labor and commerce was unconstitutional without a specific grant of authority from the State.
Posted on December 19, 2007 8:11 AM
Thanks, Billy and Andy. Conflicting rulings? Obviously, the council's directive for the city clerk to accept the petition is far from the last word.
Posted on December 19, 2007 8:56 AM
I respect the right of any individual or group to petition the government over grievances. There is nothing wrong with the minimum wage group's efforts to petition the City Council; however, they erred in not directing their efforts to our state legislative delegation, or congressional members representing local districts and the state.
As the associate legal counsel to the city said at last night's City Council meeting, the city lacks the legal authority to set a minimum wage. From a practical standpoint the city lacks the resources or expertise to enforce a minimum wage ordinance. Wage and hour law is a complex matter that tests the resources of federal and state wage and hour personnel. Presumably city personnel would require some sort of supoena power to to carry out enforcement actions.
Imagine the price of a gallon of gasoline going from $3.00 to $4.25 in order for a local merchant to cover the cost of increased wages. Or imagine your favorite hot dog going from $1.90 to $2.75 to cover higher labor costs. Wonder what the new cost of a Big Mac would be?
Posted on December 19, 2007 9:16 PM
A couple points:
*other cities in other places have raised their city-wide minimum wage without facing legal action because of it, and without seeing businesses go under
*$9.36 is equal to the minimum wage of 1968, if adjusted for inflation. Companies back then found ways to keep their business viable while also paying people a more livable wage.
*Since 1968, the difference between the highest and lowest paid in most companies has grown. The money to pay the higher wages does not have to come from consumer's pockets or mean less jobs--those at the top making sometimes 5-20 times more than those at the bottom could sacrifice an extra house, a fur coat, or an extra vacation so that others would be able to pay their bills
*If workers have more discretionary income, they will be able to spend more at local businesses, and this will boost the economy
Posted on December 20, 2007 4:15 PM
Isabell, it sounds like you're making a plea for charity. But why couldn't these rich people opt to do business outside Greensboro, where wages/prices likely would be less?
But that's a debate for a different day. First it has to be established whether the petition meets legal requirements and whether the city indeed does have authority to enact a minimum wage above the level set by state law.
Posted on December 20, 2007 10:05 PM
Concerning Isabell's comment that other cities have raised their minimum wage without legal challenge: Those other cities are not located in North Carolina where such local acts are an unconstitutional resgulation of trade and labor without a specific grant of authority from the North Carolina General Assembly. In this case, the North Carolina General Assembly has not granted such authority.
Posted on December 21, 2007 8:32 AM
It's a moot point because the City Council has decided to accept the petition despite its legal flaws. Naturally this became a racially charged topic at the last City Council meeting. Of course this issue at its core has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with this question: Do we want to give the state, local and ultimately federal government power to dictate to private industry what they should pay their workers? Because if the answer is yes, there's a word for this, and it starts with an "S" and ends with an "ism."
Posted on December 26, 2007 5:32 PM
The real issue is putting more money in peoples pockets. Raising the wage will not do this. As a business owner we will have to raise prices to off set the cost of paying the new wage. This will send people to Burlington, Highpoint, Winston, and surrounding areas for lower priced goods and services.
With the loss of business comes the loss of jobs. If we have a higher wage we will also have a large number of people from outside the area looking for higher paying jobs in our market. This will flood the job market when there are less jobs to be had.
The way for people to have more money in their pockets is tax reform not wage increase. People must remember as they make more they are taxed more. Tax reform is the only way.
Posted on January 12, 2008 11:38 AM
The real issue is putting more money in peoples pockets. Raising the wage will not do this. As a business owner we will have to raise prices to off set the cost of paying the new wage. This will send people to Burlington, Highpoint, Winston, and surrounding areas for lower priced goods and services.
With the loss of business comes the loss of jobs. If we have a higher wage we will also have a large number of people from outside the area looking for higher paying jobs in our market. This will flood the job market when there are less jobs to be had.
The way for people to have more money in their pockets is tax reform not wage increase. People must remember as they make more they are taxed more. Tax reform is the only way.
Posted on January 12, 2008 11:38 AM