The City Council sided with its labor union allies and passed a “living-wage” bill yesterday that would boost pay at projects receiving city subsidies — defying Mayor Bloomberg’s warning that the bill is a jobs killer.
Bloomberg has vowed to veto the bill raising minimum pay for eligible developments to $10 an hour with benefits and $11.50 without. But the council vote of 45-5 gives it enough support for an override vote.
In an unscripted bit of drama surrounding the legislation, Council Speaker Christine Quinn — who supports the bill — stormed out of a rally celebrating its passage when someone from the crowd called the mayor “Pharaoh Bloomberg,” saying she objected to name-calling.
Quinn, who has tried to balance her close working relationship with Bloomberg with her support for union-backed legislation, later tried to downplay her defense of the mayor.
“The message today is the bill,” she said. “It’s based on a very basic principle — if you take the city subsidies, which you’re not required to take, then you have to meet a standard of pay.”
Still, Quinn’s move sparked criticism from Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, a Democrat likely to run against her for mayor next year.
“Here you have a crowd of folks who believe in living wage,” de Blasio said. “They’re angry; they’re energized to create change. Of course they’re going to feel angry at Mayor Bloomberg.”
“I think she has to realize on an issue like this … the mayor is in the wrong place.”
Quinn spent two years trying to negotiate a living wage bill that could gather the support of labor unions and the city’s business leaders — two constituencies she needs for her mayoral run.
But recent concessions to labor unions left some top business officials walking away from the compromise efforts.
The bill requires most developers taking $1 million or more in discretionary city subsidies to pay their workers the living wages. Quinn’s office estimates it would impact at least 600 employees a year.
Stuart Appelbaum, president of Retail Wholesale & Department Store Union, which pushed the bill, slammed Bloomberg’s record.
“After billions spent on so-called job creation and economic development, New Yorkers are not better off. More poverty wage jobs have been created at the bottom as profits swell at the top — a dark legacy if there ever was one,” said Appelbaum.
Quinn also announced yesterday the council will override Bloomberg’s veto on a prevailing-wage bill, which increases wages for buildings-service workers in city-owned buildings.