Top religious leaders across the region rally in front of City Hall
Representatives of the highest ranking religious figures across Southern California joined to support Santa Monica’s proposed living wage ordinance.
Bishop Gabino Zavala of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, representing Cardinal Roger Mahoney, blessed Santa Monica’s living wage campaign.
“In my conversations with (Cardinal Mahoney), he has been very supportive of living wage laws,” Bishop Zavala said, adding the Catholic Church views living wage laws as an extension of the gospel message.
“Whenever there is an issue we feel we need to shine a light on to focus the gospel message, it’s something we need to be involved in,” he said.
Joining the Bishop on Thursday were Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben, president of the Southern California Board of Rabbis; Monsignor Tim Dyer, of the Nativity and St. Columbkille Roman Catholic Church; and Rev. Richard Gillett, minister of Social Justice of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles, among others.
Standing before the flag pole in front of Santa Monica City Hall, the religious leaders read passages from the Bible, the Torah and the Koran, which they believed supported the idea that workers should be treated with dignity.
According to Rabbi Carr, Jewish tradition over the past 3,000 years has been very supportive of the rights of workers.
“And it takes a living wage to support the dignity of all human beings,” he said.
The Santa Monica City Council approved an ordinance last year requiring businesses near the coast that make more than $5 million in annual revenue to pay their employees between $10.50 and $12.25 an hour, depending on whether health benefits are provided. But on Nov. 5, it will be voters who will decided if the living wage ordinance, known as Measure JJ, should be enacted.
Santa Monica’s proposed living wage law has drawn national attention because it’s the first of its kind to regulate salaries paid by businesses with no direct financial ties to a municipality.
Political pundits believe Santa Monica’s ordinance could act as a test case for more such wage laws nationwide, and each side of the issue is expected to raise and spend millions to convince voters of their views.
Hotel workers, who will benefit from a living wage law, brought mops, brooms and vacuum cleaners to City Hall to be blessed by the clergy. And as religious leaders approached the microphone to give their support, they dedicated each of their endorsements to a different worker at a Santa Monica hotel, saying that worker would have a better life because of the new ordinance.
At the end of the rally, the living wage campaign distributed a letter signed by 10 clergy members asking their congregations to vote in favor of Measure JJ.
The same letter will be read and distributed to area congregations this weekend.
“In this historic moment, in which 43 percent of working families in Los Angeles County cannot meet basic expenses, we believe that this kind of legislation is a necessary response to a true crisis,” the letter states. “We call on you as people of faith to carry out your civic responsibility and vote on Nov. 5.”
“We also pray that you will vote your conscience and support the living wage.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 11, 2002. Read the original PDF.