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.