Agenda Text
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That the Administration ensure that the Living Wage Ordinance is fully applied to the citys recycling contract.
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Official Text
WHEREAS, The City of Somerville’s Living Wage Ordinance was enacted “to insure that employees of the city and employees of city contractors and subcontractors earn an hourly wage that is sufficient for a family of four to live at or above the federal poverty level,” (Ord. No. 1999-1, 5-19-99); and
WHEREAS, The Somerville City Council is committed to paying dignified and fair wages to all Somerville workers, as evidenced by their unanimous vote in April 2019 to raise the Living Wage to $15 as of July 2020; and
WHEREAS, Somerville’s current recycling contract with Casella, like similar contracts in our neighboring communities, exempts recycling workers from our Living Wage Ordinance and thereby allows these workers to be underpaid; and
WHEREAS, The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) has stated that “Recycling workers are more than twice as likely to be injured at work as the average worker. Sorting recyclable materials can be a high-risk occupation, with workers regularly exposed to used needles, dead animal carcasses, and hazardous chemicals as they hand sort glass, plastics, metal, and other materials that have been mixed by consumers,” (MassCOSH, June 19, 2019); and
WHEREAS, Furthermore, MassCOSH reports that “Many waste and recycling companies, including Casella, rely heavily on temporary labor, who tend to be paid less and are more reluctant to raise health and safety concerns due to their temporary status,”; and
WHEREAS, The City of Boston, in June of 2019, announced that their next recycling contractor will be subject to Boston’s Living Wage Ordinance for the portion of their work representing their city’s contribution to the overall recycling tonnage (20%); and
WHEREAS, Somerville’s current recycling contract expires in July, 2021, yet the urgency of addressing this issue is immediate; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED, That the Somerville City Council views recycling and waste contracts as services, not the sale of goods, and therefore believes these contracts should be subject to our Living Wage Ordinance; AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the Somerville City Council urges the Administration to fully apply our Living Wage Ordinance to our recycling contracts, to ensure that recycling workers are no longer underpaid for their labor.