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BERKELEY /Wage law survives high court Page 1 of 2 ~~'j~~,opm ww~v.sfgate.com Return to regular view BERKELEY Wage law survives high court - Bob Eoelko. Chronicle Staff Writer Tuesday, January 11, 2005 Berkeley's "living wage" law was bolstered Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court denied a hearing to a restaurant that challenged the extension of the ordinance to businesses on the city marina. The extension, passed in 2000, affected only employees of a single business -- Skates on the Bay, a waterfront restaurant --because other marina employers had signed union contracts, making them exempt from the law. Skates' owner argued that because it was nonunion, it had been targeted by the city in violation of federal labor law and the constitutional guarantee of equal protection. The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco disagreed in June, ruling 2-1 that the city was entitled to extend the ordinance to a particular area to ensure decent living standards for workers. The high court denied review Monday without comment. "This makes it clear that the government has wide latitude in enacting this kind of social welfare legislation," City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said. She said that Berkeley had invested $130 million in the marina and that "workers should be entitled to get some benefit out of that investment." An attorney for Skates' owner, RUI One Corp. of Seattle, was unavailable for comment. But attorney D. Gregory Valenta, who filed arguments supporting RUI on behalf of business organizations, said the appeals court ruling might allow local governments to single out any controversial business -- a big- box retailer, gun club or abortion clinic -- for unfavorable treatment. "Stretched to its conclusion, this decision could result in quite a bit of mischief," said Valenta, whose clients included the national and state restaurant associations and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In his Supreme Court filing, he argued that Berkeley was "altering the delicate balance of power between employers and unions." Living wage ordinances are in effect in more than 100 cities nationwide, include San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Hayward and Richmond, and have survived other legal challenges. Berkeley's ordinance entitles employees to $9. 75 an hour, or $11.37 if health benefits are not provided. California's minimum wage is $6.75. The wage increase required by the ordinance has been held in escrow since 2000 and will now be paid to the restaurant's employees, Albuquerque said. The amendment extending the ordinance to the marina was drafted to apply only to businesses with at least six employees and gross sales of $350,000 a year. The extension httn~l/www_~f~ate.cam/cQi-hin/article_c~i?file=/chrcnic1e/archive/2005/O1 /11 BAGNFAO6... 1/12/2005