Clergy, including Leon Sullivan, urge living wage and global ‘Sullivan principles’; council adopts motion in concept

Religious leaders and civil-rights advocates urged the Los Angeles City Council on March 15 to expand living-wage policies and endorse the global Sullivan principles for companies doing business in the city.

Reverend Leon Sullivan, founder and chairman of Opportunities Industrial Centers of America, described the global Sullivan principles and urged the council to require companies operating in Los Angeles to adopt them and report annually on compliance. Bishop Fred Borsch, Rabbi Steven Jacobs and other faith leaders presented a report titled "Let Justice Roll Down: American workers in the new millennium," urging broader living-wage implementation.

Councilman Ridley Thomas moved — and Councilman Wax seconded — a motion to suspend the rules and adopt in concept the presentation made by Reverend Sullivan and the theology-of-work task force. The motion directed the city attorney to prepare appropriate ordinances or implementing language. The council recorded a unanimous vote in favor.

Speakers described living-wage policies as a starting point to reduce poverty and strengthen the local economy. Bishop Borsch gave a first-hand example of a worker who was able to drop a second job and provide better care for her child after gaining a living wage at the airport; Rabbi Jacobs and other clergy framed the initiative as a moral and civic obligation.

The motion approved by the council was conceptual: it instructs the city attorney to draft the detailed implementing documents and to return them for formal consideration. Council members said they view the action as building on earlier local living-wage steps and as an invitation to broader public-private cooperation.

Council staff and the council president said they expect draft language and next steps to be prepared for subsequent meetings so the council can consider ordinance text and the legal mechanisms for enforcement.