The federal minimum wage has been dropping in real value for decades. For it to be worth what it was in 1968, it would have to be raised to over $8 per hour, rather than its current rate of $5.15. Had it kept pace with increases in productivity, it would be nearly $14; had it kept pace with retail profits, it would be over $20. The average CEO's wage is now 1,200 times that of a minimum wage worker.

A bill that would have raised the federal minimum wage to $6.65 vanished from Congress' radar screen on September 11. Since that horrible day, there are ever more people in low-wage jobs, yet there seems to be a near ban on doing anything on their behalf in Washington.

Thankfully, the Living Wage Movement has picked up speed. States have been raising their minimum wages, and cities and counties have been passing living-wage laws at a faster pace than ever before. Most living-wage laws-there are now eighty-six of them-apply to both public employees and employees of companies with government contracts or that receive corporate subsidies. Santa Monica and Berkeley have passed living-wage laws that apply to private companies in certain sections of the cities that have benefited from public investment.

Louisiana ACORN press conference following the referendum that raised the minimum wage in New Orleans

New Orleans runs on the tourism industry, and its tourism industry runs on the labor of African Americans paid poverty wages. Of those living in poverty in New Orleans, eighty-six percent are African-American. New Orleans raised its minimum wage by ballot initiative on February 2, 2002. New Orleans' new living wage law goes a step further than others: it raises the minimum wage to one dollar above the federal wage for all private employers in the entire city. (This is the same law that Washington, DC, has long had.) The city council, the state legislature, and New Orleans' monopoly newspaper all fought against this increase. Front groups for hotel and restaurant owners vowed to continue the fight in court after the vote. Having lost at the district level, they appealed, and the case is expected to be decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court in September.

This fight began in 1996 when the community group ACORN (Association of Community Organi-zations for Reform Now), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 100, and their allies in the New Orleans Living Wage Campaign collected 50,000 valid signatures to force a referendum to raise the minimum wage. The city council refused to act. The Campaign collected the required number of signatures again. Again there was no action.

Then, in 1997, the state passed a law prohibiting localities from enacting wage standards. It was clear what the city had been stalling for. But the Louisiana constitution grants enormous powers of self-governmentand regulation to home-rule cities like New Orleans. The campaign challenged the state law in court, and, after a lengthy series of decisions and appeals, won the right to hold the public vote. The ruling left open the question of the state law's constitutionality until after a referendum passed. So, after the February victory, it was back to the courts.

On March 25, Judge Rose Ledet in civil district court ruled in favor of the voters' decision, writing:

The evidence presented in support of [the state law banning local minimum wage increases] was the testimony of Dr. Timothy Ryan, Dean of the College of Business Administration at the University of New Orleans who specializes in the analysis of the New Orleans economy. He admitted that he conducted no specific study of the impact of a one-dollar increase in the minimum wage in New Orleans and stated that it would be impossible to predict how the business community would react. Dr. Ryan's opinion to the legislature that localized minimum wage ordinances would have a negative impact on business development is based on economic theory premised on his belief that there should be no mandatory minimum wage whether prescribed by federal, state, or local law. His bias is highlighted by the fact that the effect of a municipally enacted increased minimum wage is based on perception and speculation since no specific study was conducted.

The only empirical data of the effects of a one-dollar increase in the minimum wage in New Orleans was introduced by testimony of Dr. Robert Pollin, Ph.D., who testified based on his four month survey conducted in 1999 of 1,118 businesses in Orleans Parish. The effect of a one-dollar increase in the minimum wage on an average firm's operating cost was negligible, between 0.9 and 0.5 percent. Dr. Pollin opined that there would be no significant impact on the business economy of the state because of an increased minimum wage in New Orleans. These findings are uncontroverted by any contrary evidence directly relating to the impact of a dollar minimum wage increase in New Orleans.

It's hard to imagine a stronger ruling than that, but the matter now lies in the hands of the state Supreme Court. Having campaigned for this for six years, New Orleans ACORN and SEIU members know that, however the Supreme Court rules, they will fight on with the confidence of past victories and push for a state-wide minimum wage increase, which will provide every worker in Louisiana with the basic right to a living wage.

For more information, see:
www.acorn.org/acorn10/livingwage/neworleans.htm

David Swanson is the Communications Director for ACORN. This article first appeared in the Labor Day 2002 issue of Democratic Left.

Editor's note: On September 4, the Louisiana Supreme Court struck down the New Orleans minimum wage law under the 1997 state law that bans local wage standards. ACORN organizer Wade Rathke says, however, that the coalition that came together to pass the minimum wage ordinance is not done yet.