Thanks Charles. But this means that all municipalities have the power to pass LW laws except in those cases directly prevented from doing so by state law. This raises the question-in those localities where they were not prevented from doing so what justification could there be for not going beyond imposing them on public sector contractors and passing more comprehensive ordinances like that in Santa Monica?
>
> Michigan, rightwing dominated legislature has been considering
> outlawing LW ordinances after Detroit passed one by ballot initiative.
> This was delayed when they started to consider outlawing prevailing
> wage ordinances too (!) ( negative dialectics).
>
I suppose a reconsideration of slavery is the next step in this progression.
>
> The importance of LW is that it is one of the most
> active, ongoing, local, labor-oriented struggles
> in the U.S., outside of union organizing proper.
> Anybody can play, so the results are going to
> be imperfect and diverse. But it is something
> to build on, for those into local labor-focused
> organizing outside of the Democratic party orbit.
>
> ((((((((((
>
> CB: Agree with Max.
>
So do I. The important larger point is that local government has considerable unexercised power to address the conditions documented by Ehrenreich as is being discussed in another thread. Furthermore, given the miserably low turnout for local elections-often less than 25%, local government is ripe for the taking by minimally well organized political This begs the question why aren't we getting off our asses?
Incidentally, somewhere or other Adolph Reed made the point recently that local goverment is where the left should be directing our energies taking as its model the religous right which was about as marginal a generation ago as the left is now. I will note here, for what it's worth, that phone calls attempting to enlist Mr. Reed in our local party building go unreturned.