Revere [Mass.] Rides to Living Wage Win

by Mike Hall, Jan 31, 2007

Greater Boston Labor Council union members celebrate their living wage victory in Revere, Mass.

Some 200-plus workers at firms with service contracts with the city of Revere, Mass., will get a bump in their pay starting July 1 when the city’s just-passed living wage ordinance goes into effect.

Rich Rogers, executive secretary-treasurer of the Greater Boston Labor Council reports the Revere City Council unanimously adopted the new wage law Jan. 29 after the labor council, 11 unions and Revere Mayor Thomas Ambrosino testified about the need to pay workers a living wage. The new $10-an-hour wage floor for service contract workers also includes an annual cost-of-living adjustment.

Rogers says the unions’ unity and the support of Ambrosino was the driving force behind the win for low-wage workers.

It was a great night for the Greater Boston Labor Council and demonstrated what we can do when we work together across all sectors of he labor movement. Low wage workers on Revere service contracts got a boost.

(Read about living wage campaigns in Memphis, Chicago and on college campuses.)

Last year, as part of the AFL-CIO’s America Needs a Raise campaign, unions and community allies across the Bay State came together to win a raise in the state’s minimum wage. Not only did they win the pay raise for some 300,000 workers, but they turned back a veto by Republican presidential hopeful and former governor Mitt Romney.

The AFL-CIO and ACORN waged successful campaigns to increase state minimum wage rates in 17 states last year through ballot initiatives and legislative action. In nearly all those battles, Big Business and Republican lawmakers led the fight against raising the minimum wage.

Republican opposition to giving low-wage workers a raise is nothing new. In fact, in the nation’s capitol, it’s gone on for more than 10 years. Just this week, Republican senators are sticking to their anti-wage playbook, blocking action on legislation to raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $7.25. Click here, here and here for the latest on the Senate minimum wage fight.

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (0)