People First Portland Rejects Council Attempt to Push Hazard Pay off for 14 Months

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Supporting Organizations on the Steps of City Hall on November 4, 2020 Following a Decisive Win  at the Polls on November 3, 2020.

“Stop Gentrification” is Part of the Agenda of the PFP. A Policy That is in Direct Conflict with Mayor Kate and Most of the City Council. The City’s Press Release Issued This Evening Ignored Tenant Protections Passed by the Voting Public on Election Day, November 3, 2020.

A Series of Signs at the Corner of Congress and Franklin Streets at the Bottom of Munjoy Hill.

People First Portland, (PFP), released the following statement in response to the City of Portland declaring that the hazard pay will not be effective until January 1, 2022.

“The language of the ordinance and the will of the people are clear:  Over 25,000 Portland residents voted for an increased minimum wage with hazard pay of $18. an hour going into effect on December 3.

Nothing has changed with the Council’s declaration tonight.  PFP will continue to educate workers that they are entitled to $18. an hour for in-person work starting on December 3, 2020.

By making this statement tonight, as COVID cases are spiking across the state, the Council is turning its back on our essential workers.  The Council is also putting our local businesses at risk of owing significant back pay should a business choose to listen to the Council and not implement the legal language.

The Council has opposed this ordinance from the beginning, but they should not let their own biases cause them to disregard the legal language of the ordinance or the strong majority of our city.  Furthermore, the Council and opposing groups made the immediacy of the hazard pay measure the crux of their opposition to Question A.  The  Council is now disregarding its previous statements and the summary text on the ballot it wrote and approved.

“This was an historic win for the workers of Portland and no statement by the Council can take it away.”

“The city is putting businesses in Portland at risk by deciding not to enforce the hazard pay provision on December 3 and sewing confusion where they should be offering assistance and clarification,” said Kate Sykes, one of the principals of PFP.

Please visit previous post herein issued by the city’s spokeswoman this evening on its rejection of the hazard pay.