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Cities and Jobs: Local Strategies for Improving Job Quality and Access
Download the PDF version.6/12/2007
By: Pablo Mitnik
In spite of the extraordinarily high productivity of U.S workers, a large share of the country’s workers hold bad jobs. These low-wage workers are not mainly teenagers without economic responsibilities, as is often claimed. Most are adults, most are married or have been married, and there is good evidence that the low quality of their employment has deleterious consequences for their and their families’ welfare. Making the issue even more pressing, upward earnings mobility has become much more difficult than in the past, in particular for those without high-education credentials. As a result, a substantial share of people get trapped in bad jobs for long periods of time.
What can cities do to improve the quality of jobs? How can cities boost the access of the disadvantaged to the good jobs available in their jurisdictions? Building from policy innovations and experiences from all around the country, this report offers a menu of city policies aimed at improving job quality and redistributing job opportunities in favor of the disadvantaged.
The policies considered in the report are the following:
- Using a city’s regulatory power to establish wage floors and other employment standards.
- Using a city’s proprietary interests (i.e., its interests as a market participant) to establish wage floors and other employment standards, to protect workers’ right to organize, and to secure good job opportunities for the disadvantaged.
- Using a city’s resources and regulatory powers to help enforce federal and state employment regulations.
- Regulating domestic-employee placing agencies.
- Implementing equal opportunity employment policies and disseminating information on good-job opportunities.
- Curbing employers’ practices that take advantage of immigrant workers.
Additional Resources
The report refers to many city ordinances and resolutions, to proposed legislation, and to other texts. Most of these documents are available here:
Documents related to using a city’s regulatory power to establish employment standards
- Albuquerque’s Minimum wage ordinance
- Baltimore’s Minimum wage law
- Chicago’s Big box living wage & benefits ordinance
- Kansas City’s Stealing of a person’s labor law
- San Francisco’s Minimum wage ordinance
- San Francisco’s Sick leave ordinance
- San Francisco’s Personal services minimum contractual rate ordinance
- Santa Fe’s Minimum wage ordinance
- Santa Monica’s Minimum wage ordinance
- Washington D.C.’s laws regarding minimum wages, payment and collection of wages, attachment and garnishment of wages, seats for employees, overtime wage rate, split shift additional payment, and several other employment standards.
Documents related to using a city's proprietary interests as a basis for policy
- Boston’s Jobs and living wage ordinance
- Burlington’s Living wage ordinance
- Camden’s Living wage ordinance
- Cincinnati’s Living wage ordinance
- Cleveland’s Fair Employment law
- Detroit’s Living wage ordinance
- Duluth’s Public investment and living wage law
- Ferndale’s Living wage law
- Hartford’s Living wage ordinance
- Hayward’s Living wage ordinance
- Lansing’s Purchasing, contracting and sales law
- Los Angeles’ Living wage law
- Madison’s Living wage ordinance
- Minneapolis’ Living wage and responsible spending ordinance
- Missoula’s Quality job and labor protection ordinance
- New Britain’s Labor Standards in city contracting and purchasing law
- New Haven’s Living wage law
- Oakland’s Living wage ordinance
- Pittsburgh’s Living wage ordinance
- Port of Oakland’s Living wage and labor standards at Port-Assisted Business ordinance
- San Jose’s Living wage policy
- Santa Cruz’s Living wage ordinance
- Sonoma’s Living wage law
- Staple Center CBA’s First source hiring policy
- Tucson’s Living wage law
- Warren’s Purchasing law
- Watsonville’s Payment of living wage law
Documents related to regulating domestic-employee placing agencies
- New York City’s Domestic workers and household employees law
- New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs’ Statement of employee rights and employer responsibilities regarding domestic or household employment (English version)
- New York City’s Department of Consumer Affairs’ Statement of employee rights and employer responsibilities regarding domestic or household employment (Spanish version)
Documents related to curbing employer practices that take advantage of immigrants
- No-match letter sample
- San Francisco’s Resolution opposing the DH’s proposed rule on use of SSA “no-match” letters to enforce immigration law
- Santa Fe’s Resolution declaring a policy of non-discrimination upon receipt of a “no-match” letter from the SSA
- Basic Pilot Program’s Memo of understanding sample
Copyright © 2007