Bostonians would enjoy higher minimum wages, better job training and a better shot at construction jobs under plans touted by three mayoral candidates yesterday, in an indication of the key role the city's economic health will play in the final weeks before the preliminary election.
City Councilor Felix G. Arroyo, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley and Charlotte Golar Richie all released economic plans on Labor Day geared to win support from working-class voters. All three called for an increase in the state minimum wage.
Arroyo told the Herald he supports the proposal for an increase from $8 to $11 an hour by 2015 currently in front of the state Legislature.
He also called for using the city's power in negotiating contracts to ensure companies who win city contracts pay their employees a living wage, similar to the Living Wage Ordinance passed by the City Council in 1998.
Golar Richie is also in favor of the minimum wage bill.
Conley agreed that the minimum wage should increase, but his campaign declined to give a specific number, citing the need for further research.
The city has seen skyrocketing growth in recent years, with an unemployment rate of 5.9 percent. But the working-class voters who may be key to the election have seen manufacturing jobs ebb. All three candidates advocated connecting residents to growing industries in Boston, including the high-skill fields of health care and academia.
"I believe that we have a responsibility to link Boston residents to jobs that exist today," said Arroyo, whose plan includes increasing the quality and availability of job-training and expanding STEM education.
Conley outlined a similar plan to "give Boston residents a chance to share in the economic life of the city today and tomorrow." Many health-care jobs are filled from other towns and states, he said, adding that he will work with medical institutions to make sure residents have a shot, as well as increasing training opportunities.
Arroyo and Conley both called for a revision and increased enforcement of the Boston Residents Job Policy, which calls for construction projects in Boston to use at least 50 percent Boston residents, 25 percent minorities and 10 percent women.
"I intend to revise the policy to guarantee more Boston jobs for Boston residents," Conley said.
Arroyo called for better enforcement and an increase to 50 percent minority and 15 percent female workers.
Golar Richie's plan includes the creation of 30,000 jobs over the next three years, with an emphasis on low-income residents and single mothers.
"I will make sure that Boston residents receive a fair share of these new jobs, particularly those residents that have been hardest hit over the past several years by the recession," she said.
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