BUSINESSES FORM PROTEST COALITION : PROPOSED `LIVING WAGE' TOO COSTLY, GROUP SAYS.Byline: Deborah Adamson Daily News Staff Writer About two dozen businesses met in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or on Thursday to protest a plan to require city contractors and firms who get city assistance to pay workers at least $7.50 an hour plus benefits. The businesses launched the Coalition to Keep L.A. Working, which includes the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Area Chamber of Commerce, Mexican American Mexican American n. A U.S. citizen or resident of Mexican descent. Mex  i·can-A·mer Grocers Association and the National Association of Women Business
Owners The National Association of Women's Business Owners (NAWBO) is an organization in the United States founded in 1975 that has the purpose of networking the approximately 10. .
Gary Mendoza, deputy mayor for economic development, said the proposed ordinance is a step backward.``(It) sends a message to the business community that Los Angeles is not hospitable to businesses,'' he said. A ``living wage'' proposal before the City Council would require paying $7.50 an hour plus benefits or $9.50 without benefits. In either case, the worker must get paid vacation Noun 1. paid vacation - a vacation from work by an employee with pay granted holiday, vacation - leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure; "we get two weeks of vacation every summer"; "we took a short holiday in Puerto Rico" and sick days. The ordinance would affect firms holding city contracts worth at least $25,000. It also targets businesses that have directly benefited from the city - via subsidies, credits and others - by $1 million or more. About 850 businesses employing 10,600 workers would be affected. Madeline Janis-Aparicio, coordinator of the L.A. Living Wage Coalition - composed of labor unions, churches and community groups - said the ordinance would ease the lives of working people who don't make enough to live on. ``There's a crisis in our city,'' said Janis-Aparicio, whose group also backed Proposition 210, which will raise the state minimum wage to $5.75 in March 1998. Earning $7.50 - roughly $15,600 a year - meets the federal poverty level of a family of four. Proponents commissioned an economic study, which pegged the total cost at $93 million. If phased in over four years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time study indicated that the effects on business would be minimal. But Mendoza said the city would have to pay higher prices - and that could mean higher taxes or a decrease of city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . The council has commissioned another study, which should be completed by the end of the year. |
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