The Wage War at City Hall
Mayor Boyd locks horns with the city attorney over a mandatory $2.25 daily wage for city contract workers.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Mayor Boyd and Corporation Counsel Judson have locked horns over the enforcement of the city ordinance requiring contractors to pay their men $2.25 for an eight-hour day's work. Mr. Judson argues that the ordinance is invalid and that all the city can do is to include in the contracts the state law which says no contractor shall work his men more than eight hours. Mayor Boyd says he will approve no city contract that does not contain the $2.25 a day provision and that he will command the board to enforce the ordinance. Contractor James Broad refused recently to sign such a contract, and Mr. Judson decided to draft a contract embodying only the eight-hour law. This was satisfactory to Mr. Broad and fairly so to the board of public works, but not to the mayor. 'The wage ordinance stands on the statute books,' says the mayor. 'I will not approve such a contract.' As soon as the corporation counsel's opinion is sent to the council, the mayor intends to sign it, or Mr. Broad may mandamus him to sign, bringing the issue squarely into the courts.
“The wage ordinance stands on the statute books, and I will not approve such a contract.”
Municipal efforts to mandate a living wage on public works remain a contentious issue in Washington, echoing today's ongoing debates over prevailing wage laws, labor protections, and the tension between city-level progressive policies and state-level legal authority.
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