We Want Cossetta's Pizza With Everything, Including Good Wages

The people of Saint Paul, Minnesota learned last month the city doesn't think their work, or their laws, are worth much. On April 13, the Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority voted 6 to 1 to grant the Cossetta Expansion Project a waiver from the living wage ordinance. And a May 18 amendment didn't make matters much better.

The living wage ordinance, when it's not waived, requires that any business receiving a public subsidy beyond a certain size must, in turn, invest in the community by paying all of it's workers a living wage of at least $11.82 plus employer-provided health insurance or $13.98 an hour without insurance. When workers are paid a living wage, they buy more of life's necessities, giving the city economy a boost—good for consumers and good for business owners. But the city decided this ordinance is only the law for some people and not for others.

Cossetta Italian Market and Pizzeria, in Saint Paul, wants to expand their operations to increase the seating area, the food market, and the menu offerings, and to add a rooftop restaurant and a wine cellar. It's good news that Cossetta is doing well and wants to expand.

After closed-door negotiations between Cossetta Inc. and city planners, the Saint Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority passed a resolution to grant a $2 million subsidy to Cossetta for the expansion. That's a lot of taxpayer money. There are times when public funding can be critical to helping local businesses thrive. So for now let's leave aside the question of subsidies, and let's look at the second piece of the resolution.

The resolution, after granting Cossetta a large subsidy that activates the living wage ordinance, then grants a "Waiver of Living Wage Requirements". That's the exact phrase from the official minutes of the City of Saint Paul HRA hearing. Read it again, and as you read it, think about what those words mean: "Waiver of Living Wage Requirements". The city is handing Cossetta taxpayer money and then telling them "You know that law we have about paying employees (Saint Paul's working taxpayers) enough to meet the cost of living? Forget about it. Doesn't exist. Not for you."

The living wage ordinance is important, and not just because of the principle of fairness—that a business receiving a public subsidy should, in turn, invest in the community. It's important too because without it, employees end up in poverty and on public assistance.

Research by JOBS NOW Coalition, a nonprofit based in Saint Paul, shows that in Ramsey County a full-time worker with no children must earn $11.78 with employer-provided health insurance, or $14.17 an hour without insurance, to meet basic needs. A family of two full-time working adults with two children must each earn $14.09 with employer-provided health insurance, or $16.73 an hour without insurance.

The Saint Paul ordinance's $11.82 to $13.98 an hour will allow a working individual to just get by. But working parents, with or without health insurance, are going to be caught short. In any case, they'll be better off with the lawful protection of the ordinance than without it. But Saint Paul told Cossetta's employees in April they will have to go without it.

On May 18, when the city council approved Cossetta's TIF subsidy, they also adopted an amendment requiring the company to pay the Saint Paul living wage to 75 percent of its full-time employees. But with Cossetta's large number of part-timers, that's less than 40 percent of the whole staff. What happens to the remaining 60 percent not covered by the law?

Some at the RHA hearing who supported the living wage waiver commented that Cossetta Inc. is an established and respected member of the community. The argument seems to be: They don't need laws. They're good people. Can't you just trust people to keep doing what they've always done?

Let's see how that's going to work out for Cossetta's employees. We don't have to guess, we have the figures. As of the end of 2010, Cossetta had 137 employees. Fewer than half, just 62 employees, were paid more than $11.60 an hour and thus made something approaching a family-supporting wage. The other 75 employees were paid less than $11.60 an hour and thus could not even afford basic needs. Adding injury to injury, half of Cossetta's employees were not even eligible for health insurance. That's Cossetta's record on taking care of its employees.

Dave Cossetta was quoted in the March 18, 2011 Minneapolis Star Tribune saying "All we're trying to do is expand on what we do." If it's great pizza, we in Saint Paul are all for it. If it's your record on wages and benefits, take it back. And while you're at it, give us our public money back.