In a pivotal win for workers, the voters of New Orleans overwhelmingly supported an amendment to incorporate a Workers’ Bill of Rights (WBOR) into the city charter. The addition, which calls upon local businesses to implement supportive workplace policies, will welcome in a new era that entrenches the pro-worker, pro-family values of the community and signals its staunch support of working New Orleanians. A Better Balance supported our partners at Step Up Louisiana in their tireless efforts to pass this initiative, and we look forward to continuing to support them in the implementation phase.
The WBOR serves as a best practices guide for how local businesses can better support their workforce. Model policies encouraged under the amendment include paid family and medical leave, paid sick time, a fair livable wage, healthcare coverage, and the right to organize. Through a partnership with the City of New Orleans, advocates will create a Healthy Workplace designation for all employers who provide all of the criteria outlined in the WBOR for their employees. While the WBOR does not create a mandate to provide these policies, private businesses that do so will receive the Healthy Workplace designation and, in turn, see increased productivity, a healthier workforce, and sustained retention of critical employees compared to those that do not.
The WBOR illustrates a movement across the country in which advocates are finding creative workarounds to the stifling of local democracy by more conservative state and federal preemption, which often seeks to block localities from passing progressive work-family policies. New Orleans joins a growing list of progressive cities in deeply red states that are bypassing restrictive legislation to ensure that the voices of their constituents are being heard. The City of Austin has created a Living Wage Program that requires non-construction contracts to pay a living wage. In Durham, North Carolina, the local government has implemented a Workers’ Rights Commission, which serves as an advisory body to the city council on working conditions, and hosts a public forum for the exploration of workers’ rights and recommendations of pro-worker policies for the city council’s state legislative agenda. The trend is clear – workers are taking their seat at these influential tables and speaking up for what they deserve, and local communities are acting to protect their rights.
In a city where there is a life expectancy differential of more than 20 years between white and Black communities, a disparity caused by systemic racism, the need for supportive workplace policies is at an all time high, particularly for people of color, who frequently lack access to vital rights like paid sick time and paid family and medical leave. New Orleans has taken a promising step toward correcting the health and wealth discrepancies between the highest paid workers and the lowest. The WBOR is a win for the New Orleans community and the South as a whole.
