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ORDINANCE AMENDING THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, 2000, AS AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTED, TO ESTABLISH A BETTER JOBS ORDINANCE.
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WHEREAS, a December 2014 report released by the New Jersey Poverty Research Institute found that the income gap between the top twenty percent of New Jersey households and all other income groups has widened since the end of the recession;1and
WHEREAS, in 2013, both the average and median income for all households (adjusted for inflation) were lower than in 2009-and lower than they were in 2000;and
WHEREAS, Essex County is the poorest county in the State of New Jersey, with 20% of its residents living below the federal poverty line. In the City of Newark, the poverty rate is over 30%;2 and
WHEREAS, according to the Economic Policy Institute's family budget calculator, which calculates "the income a family needs in order to attain a secure yet modest living standard," for a two-parent, two-child family in the Newark metropolitan statistical area, both parents working full time would have to earn no less than $19.67 an hour each. If either of them is working less than full-time, that hourly rate would have to be even higher to meet that standard; and
WHEREAS, part time workers with limited income and no access to employer-provided healthcare will have to rely on the State to meet basic needs - such as healthcare for themselves and their families; and
WHEREAS, cleaning work can be staffed full time. In fact, the work in major markets such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago is overwhelmingly full time. Full time office cleaning is also the norm in smaller nearby markets such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh; and
WHEREAS, the turnover rate for part time building service workers in New Jersey is considerably higher than the turnover rate for full time workers and a 2012 study found that "thirty case studies taken from the 11 most-relevant research papers on the costs of emplo...
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