(St. Louis Public Radio) – The St. Louis Board of Alderman has given initial approval to raising the minimum wage in St. Louis to $11 an hour by 2018. The vote was 15-6.
The bill faces one more vote. Throughout the long debate, two factions formed: those who want to see a significant increase in base-line pay and those who fear that an increase will alienate businesses and drive them into St. Louis County or across the river to Illinois. Both sides say they want the best for low-wage workers.
While presenting the bill, Alderman Shane Cohn, D-25th Ward, said the choice was simple.
“$7.65 (the current minimum) is not enough to survive. It is not enough to survive as an individual let alone supporting a family,” he said.
His presentation of the bill was criticized by Alderman Stephen Conway, D-8th Ward, who insisted the bill put workers at risk of losing their jobs when businesses flee to the surrounding area.
“But as our hearts tug for them, do we blindly turn an eye to the economics of what may or may not happen?”
These two arguments are at the crux of the debate and continue to play out even as the amount under debate shifted from $15 an hour, to today’s initial proposal of $13 an hour to the currently amended proposal of $11 an hour. This increase would be phased in until reaching that $11 an hour in 2018.
Cohn’s faction contextualize the vote as a moral imperative, citing President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s language in the creation of the minimum wage, as a guiding light. Supporters also say it’s a health issue for the region as lower wages restrict access to health care and resources that can lead to improved health.
Alderman Megan Green of the 15th Ward, pointed to the choice of implementing a higher minimum wage as one that comes down to class support.
“Are we standing with workers, do we think workers matter or are we more concerned with corporate profits?” she asked her fellow aldermen.
The amendment to lower the proposed increase to $11 an hour came after several practical and linguistic issues with the proposed bill were raised by Ward 24 Alderman Scott Ogilive. An amendment by Alderman Lyda Krewson of the 28th Ward changed the increase to $11 an hour from the $13 an hour that was in the bill at the beginning of the day.
The bill faces one for vote before it is implemented.
