San Diego Fine Tunes Living Wage Ordinance

San Diego city council votes this afternoon on amendments to the city’s Living Wage Ordinance. The city adopted the ordinance in 2005, but it is not consistently enforced.

KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The Ordinance mandates wages of just over $12 an hour, or $10  an hour plus health insurance.

Today's amendments clarify who is covered and strengthen oversight. Companies that don’t comply would face consequences.

Rabbi Lauri Coskey of the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice says the city must make sure the principal of a Living Wage is working in practice .

Coskey : We’re having to understand what the Living Wage ordinance really means for real people, living real lives. We needed to interpret the law to make it enforceable so it really lifted people out of poverty.

Coskey says enforcing the Living Wage Ordinance is particularly important at a time when the city is planning to open many services, such as trash collection, to the private sector.

Alison St John, KPBS news.