© 2024 Maine Public | Registered 501(c)(3) EIN: 22-3171529
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Scroll down to see all available streams.

Portland City Council Committee To Take Up Wage Measure Monday

A Portland City Council committee is set to take action Monday evening on a proposal to require that most city contractors pay the prevailing wage on city jobs. Mayor Ethan Strimling, who sponsored the provision, says he thinks there is consensus on the wage question.

"Making sure we only work with companies that are on the up-and-up, that don't have a lot of wage and safety and labor violations - those provisions I feel like we've got pretty strong support for," Strimling says.

Strimling says he hopes that the City Council will also enact incentives for contractors to support apprenticeship programs - although he says there may be legal problems surrounding that effort.

The City Council's Finance Committee will hold a public hearing on the measure at 5 p.m., before taking a final vote.

This story has been corrected to note that Monday's hearing on the contracting proposal is before the City Council's Finance Committee, not the full City Council.

A Columbia University graduate, Fred began his journalism career as a print reporter in Vermont, then came to Maine Public in 2001 as its political reporter, as well as serving as a host for a variety of Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Television programs. Fred later went on to become news director for New England Public Radio in Western Massachusetts and worked as a freelancer for National Public Radio and a number of regional public radio stations, including WBUR in Boston and NHPR in New Hampshire.