Table 6
Organization of business interests by city
| Seattle | Los Angeles | New York | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small businesses | Progressive Main Street Alliance (organization of small businesses; strategically organizes small businesses in places where there are local campaigns being waged for higher minimum wages, paid sick time and other progressive initiatives) provided support for ordinances; Robust local restauranteurs (more than full-service 1000 restaurants in 2014) key components of opposition (mostly from the mid-sized local restaurants rather than the large restaurant chains or small immigrant businesses) | Robust public displays of small business support organized by labor and worker advocates in City Council Hearings; Association of Restaurants (about 100 local restaurant owners) testified in favor of overall compensation model small business opposition | Small businesses were the rhetorical center of the paid sick leave and enforcement debates; small business support for paid sick leave (e.g., 105 small businesses in Small Businesses United, aligned with worker advocates); after de Blasio election, GoBizNYC, a new network of small business leaders formed (spokesperson from the Partnership for NYC, see below) to oppose paid sick leave and to “strengthen the voice of small immigrant and minority owned businesses and to create an environment where small businesses can create more jobs and build our city’s neighborhood economies” |
| Major corporations | Not publicly opposed to ordinances, but behind-the-scenes lobbying of mayor for carve-outs (e.g., Starbucks) | Involvement of Veronica Perez Associates (lobbying firm represented McDonald’s and other large employers) | Partnership for New York City (“200 leading organizations, mostly international organizations that are headquartered in New York”, e.g., Bloomberg, Bank of America, Citigroup, Deloitte, J.P Morgan Chase, and The New York Times) extremely involved in first round of paid sick leave debates during Bloomberg administration, not because of effects of proposed legislation on its members, but because of the signal about the “business climate” of NYC |
| Chambers of commerce and other employer organizations | Seattle Chamber not affiliated with National because of ideological differences, mainly small and medium businesses; Biggest companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Weyerhauser and Starbucks were either not members or not particularly active in the chamber; Incorporated into the stakeholder process; Greater Seattle Business Association (LGBTQ business group); One Seattle Coalition, which was composed mostly of small and medium sized businesses | Valley Industry and Commerce Association—a business advocacy group founded in 1949 and based in the San Fernando Valley; the Central City Association (CCA), LA Chamber of Commerce, and Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, all advocated for longer phase-in periods for small businesses, non-profits, and franchises; Homeboys Industries and non-profits such as the LA Conservation Corps lobbied for MW carve-out for non-profits; | 5 Boro Alliance of Chambers of Commerce organized by Partnership for NYC in opposition; Ethnic chambers of commerce and other small business organizations largely in favor of paid sick leave (e.g., New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce, the Bodega Association, the Korean-American Small Business Association, the U.S. Latin Chamber of Commerce, and the New York City Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners) |
| Industry associations | Seattle Restaurant Association (which also represented the hospitality sector), Washington Restaurant Association and the , represented employers, who wanted a phased-in approach to raising the minimum wage for all businesses, a temporary training wage allowed at a lower rate, and the ability to count health care, commissions, tips and bonuses towards total wages and the $15 per hour minimum; International Franchise Association (IFA) and five local franchises sought a preliminary injunction against the law because it defined “large” employers as including all franchisees that were part of a chain with more than 500 employees anywhere in the nation | CA Restaurant Association lobbied for “total compensation model” (rejected on legal grounds); California Grocers Association advocated for longer phase-in period | New York State Restaurant Association, the Business Council of New York State—a state business advocacy group, the National Association of Theater Owners, the New York Night Life Association—largely representing nightclubs, the National Cleaners Association, and the Food Industry Alliance of New York State testified in city council hearings, focusing on how the proposed law would hurt the profits of small businesses. |
| Powerful nonplayers | Amazon, Microsoft, National Fast Food Chains (McDonalds tried to hire a lobbyist during this period but no one would take the work because they did not want to get on the wrong side of the fast food strikes.), real estate developers | Real estate developers | Real estate developers |
This chart appears in:
Next chart: Economic and political characteristics of cities »