Proponents of bringing a living wage to Providence are using a series of forums to shed light on where candidates for city council and mayor stand on the issue and other questions involving labor and economic equity. The series begins this Thursday, July 25, at 6 p.m., with an event featuring Ward Nine councilor Pat Nolan and challenger Miguel Luna at Club Juan Pablo Duarte, 100 Niagra St. (corner of Congress Avenue).

Sara Mersha, executive director of the activist group Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), which is sponsoring the forums with Rhode Island Jobs with Justice, and other groups, cites the election season as a particularly useful time to elicit candidates' stances on the living wage and related concerns. "We've been able to have their ears more so than usual," she notes.

In April, living wage proponents launched a show of strength in an attempt to nudge the measure out of the city council's ordinance and finance committees. But the proposal, which targets a minimum $10.19 hourly wage for many city workers, has continued to languish in committee. "We think we have enough people to vote it out," but more public pressure is needed to make progress, Mersha says. (Luna's campaign manager, Matthew Jerzyk, who's on leave from his job as director of Rhode Island Jobs With Justice, has been a leading organizer of the drive for a living wage in Providence.)

The candidates' forums continue August 8 at St. Teresa's Church, 275 Manton Ave., with an event featuring incumbent councilors Joseph DeLuca of Ward Six in Olneyville and Josephine DiRuzzo and Ward 15, which encompasses Mount Pleasant and part of Olneyville. Pending certification of nomination papers, DeLuca is being challenged by independent Angel Ramon Madera and Republican Thomas Nerney, while DiRuzzo faces opposition from Democrat Liandra Martinez. Organizers also plan to stage a mayoral forum, but a date has yet to be scheduled.

Besides the living wage, other issues to be vetted during the forums include the plight of janitors in downtown Providence and maintenance workers at Providence College; the card-count neutrality agreement, an alternative forum of labor organizing; and the ongoing labor dispute between the Providence Newspaper Guild and management at the Providence Journal. Each forum will be moderated by Hope High School valedictorian Evelyn Duran.

Issue Date: July 25 - 31, 2002