The new Living Wage Ordinance for contractors would raise the minimum to $13.25 an hour next year and $15 in 2023. Some direct city employees earn far less, and the council can’t change that on its own.
Several similar resolutions have been approved since 2006, but this new one adds new restrictions on donations from Entergy employees and extends the restrictions to council candidates who aren’t currently sitting council members.
The strike comes a week after the City Council advanced a proposal to mandate a minimum $15 an hour wage for city contractors, but not for direct city employees
Advocates and council members say that next, they want to raise wages for city employees and eventually all workers in Orleans Parish.
The $34 million upfront investment from Entergy will cost more than $85 million to pay back.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell originally said that all the money from the fine should go to the Sewerage and Water Board.
The project is estimated to be completed in time for the 2023 hurricane season.
The program has provided meals to thousands of New Orleans residents since it began last summer.
The furloughs, initiated in response to the coronavirus pandemic, affected thousands of city employees for a little over five months
The suit was filed late last month following an April Convention Center board vote authorizing legal action against the RTA.
