Rules Committee Backs Minimum Wage Ordinance

Rather than upholding some non-binding legislation, this ordinance, which is being sponsored by Sup. Tom Ammiano, ensures that employers are abiding by set standards, said Angela Calvillo, legislative aid to Ammiano.

According to the ordinance’s digest, a labor standards enforcement officer, to be appointed by the mayor, would develop and manage a plan to enforce the prevailing wage requirement and other labor standards imposed in the city charter. Moreover, she or he would be able to seek out violations of those standards.

To that end, the officer would have “authority to subpoena the production of books, papers, records and any other items relevant to investigations under the jurisdiction of the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement,” the digest reads.

At last week’s Rules Committee meeting, such influence raised a red flag for Sup. Michela Alioto-Pier who requested that the item be tabled for one week while she researched why OSLE would be granted the same type of subpoena power that the Board of Supervisors has.

“Most commissions have authority to subpoena but not all of them, and not all boards do either,’ said Calvillo. “So she wanted to know why [the OSLE] would need it.”
At yesterday’s meeting, Alioto-Pier announced that she had spoken with the city attorney and was satisfied with his answer as to which organizations have subpoena power and why the OSLE would be added to that list.

Calvillo said the ordinance is likely to have member support when it goes before the full Board of Supervisors.

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