By a 9-1 margin, the City Council approved an ordinance promoting fair labor standards and preventing wage theft in the City of Everett.
Ward 1 Councilor Michele Capone was the lone dissenting vote, and it was she who opened the discussion about the matter.
“I don’t think the City of Everett can even enforce all of the different issues within this ordinance suggestion,” said Capone. “I just want to say, too, that my father was a Local 7 Ironworker, and before my father was an ironworker, he was out of work every winter, and we depended on relatives to take care of us, so I don’t see this as just a union issue.
Noting that the state oversees a lot of labor standards issues, Capone asked, “If we were able to vote this in, what would we even be able to enforce? And are we opening ourselves up to unnecessary lawsuits?”
Ward 6 Councilor Peter Pietrantonio also expressed concerns about the city’s ability to enforce the policies within the ordinance.
Councilor-at-Large Katy Rogers said it was “my understanding that this isn’t so much about the City’s enforcement of this, but it does give us some teeth.”
“There’s a broader issue here that goes beyond the unions as Councilor Capone mentioned – this can be related to sex trafficking or immigration, so in order for the City to enforce it, it was have to be a scenario where it would have to reported,” said Rogers. “We would have the teeth to elevate [a business violation] to the state, but it wouldn’t really fall on us to be actually going around to enforce it on our own as a City.”
Ward 2 Councilor Stephanie Martins said the state attorney general is the enforcing authority.
“What we’re doing is, as a City, we’re choosing not to do business with contractors and businesses that have been reported to have a judgement being debarred because they’re commiting a violation,” explained Martins.
Martins illuminated on the contents of the ordinance. “We’re requiring contractors to maintain industrial coverage. We’re asking them to properly classify employees, maintain daily sign-in and sign-out logs, comply with healthcare reform law, submit monthly certified payroll records. We’re just creating standards for them to be able to get into a contract with us, and we’re also creating a reporting system where employees can report violations. It does affect especially non-union employees, because the unions do a great job at protecting people.
“We have the ability to revoke a contract, suspend a contract, or impose additional conditions,” added Martins. “As far as lawsuits, I believe that a developer or a contract that’s in the wrong, it will be cheaper and the best option to just pay the employee instead of fighting the City, but as a City, are we now going to do the right thing because someone’s going to sue us, that’s not acceptable.”
Martins’ thorough explanation of the ordinance and its impacts drew some much-deserved applause from audience members.
Capone concluded that there should always be a concern “about being sued and lawsuits.”