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NEW ORLEANS - At today's regular meeting, the City Council unanimously passed an amendment to the Living Wage Ordinance, bringing the minimum wage for City Contract workers to $15 per hour by 2023. The increase will be phased in over two years, requiring $13.25 on January 1, 2022, and the full $15 starting January 1, 2023.
Councilmember Jared C. Brossett passed the first-ever Living Wage ordinance in 2015 to ensure that taxpayer dollars extended by the City to private contractors are used in a manner that creates jobs and keeps contracted and subcontracted workers and their families out of poverty.
Living wages also make good financial sense for businesses, as higher wages are associated with increased levels of business investment, employee training and worker productivity, as well as lower rates of employee absenteeism and turnover.
“Today’s amendment to the Living Wage Ordinance is yet another example of how my colleagues and I on the City Council are working hard to protect workers and ensure that residents receive fair pay,” Councilmember Brossett stated. “But our work does not stop today. I also introduced an ordinance today that calls on the Department of City Civil Service to conduct a pay study to raise the minimum wage for City employees to $15 per hour.”
Councilmember Brossett also authored Ordinance 33,388, which directs the Civil Department to make recommendations toward implementing a $15 per hour minimum wage for all classified City employees. That report would be due to the Council on September 1, 2021.
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