Editorial
By Jon A. Brake
We have said it before: "They do not want to be called Communist. They
do not want to be called Socialist. They
don’t even want to be called Liberal. They all want to be called moderate."
They know that their ideas will never
be approved without the name change.
On February 8, the Flinthills Living Wage Coalition and the Manhattan
Alliance for Peace & Justice (MAPJ) will
present a "Manhattan Economic Development Living Wage Policy Resolution
to the Manhattan City
Commission.
According to the MAPJ January 2000 newsletter "the proposal will seek
to establish a living wage requirement
for all businesses receiving economic development assistance from the
City of Manhattan. The Flinthills Living
Wage Coalition hopes that the Commission will be ready to vote on the
ordinance at a legislative meeting in
March."
Three City Commissioners are deeply involved with the Flinthills Living
Wage Coalition and MAPJ. Karen
McCulloh, Bruce Snead and Carol Peak are listed as Advisors to Sustainable
Manhattan. Snead and Peak are
also officers. In January 1999, Sustainable Manhattan "honored the
Flinthills Living Wage Coalition with a grant
of $550 to conduct a Living Wage Workshop." All three City Commissioners
attended the Workshop.
The Manhattan Chamber of Commerce has this to say about the Living Wage
Issue: "The Manhattan Chamber
of Commerce believes that wages and benefits should be determined by
the employee’s skills and abilities,
competitive practices and the employer’s ability to compete in a global
marketplace. Compensating employees
based on regulation rather than the free market reduces the ability
of employers to stimulate improved
performance through higher wages. The free market system and a strong
local economy, combined with
education and long-term skill development, provide the most effective
way to raise wages and benefits for the
workforce."
The majority of low-wage workers are not working forty hours per week.
They have not held the same job for the
last four years. Most workers earning low-wages are young, single and
live with their parents.
The Flinthills Living Wage Coalition and MAPJ are political organizations
trying to bring their liberal views to
Manhattan. They have done well, they control the City Commission and
the School Board.