If the city passes a law requiring a “living wage” be paid to workers at projects that receive public subsidies, about 6,000 to 13,000 jobs would be lost, according to a recent report.
For advocates, like Democratic City Councilman Oliver Koppell of the Bronx, that’s the good news.
In a public statement today, he referred to the 6,000 – 13,000 figure as “such a small amount of job loss.”
A reader who pointed this out to me noted job loss is a sensitive subject for any lawmaker from the Bronx, since that borough has the highest unemployment rate in the city.
On Monday, City Comptroller John Liu issued a statement that said, in part, the “living wage” legislation may “curtail” a number of new, minimum-wage jobs.
The report Koppell cited was released Monday night by the Economic Development Corporation.
Advocates of the legislation said City Hall was trying to “sabotage” tomorrow afternoon’s City Council hearing on the bill by releasing the summary of the report, instead of the entire report.
