Coalition Pushes Living Wages for NYC
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In New York City, Wall Street profits are skyscraper high again, real-estate developers and companies are receiving billions in public subsidies and yet a record number of full-time working New Yorkers are relying on food stamps and emergency food assistance because they do not earn enough to support themselves or their families.
But a citywide living wage movement, led by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), is fighting back and pushing for passage of the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act, legislation that would establish a living wage standard for jobs in taxpayer-subsidized economic development projects, especially large retail centers. It’s a movement that has galvanized many thousands of working people, who have been rallying and marching regularly for the legislation over the past year in congregations and on the streets of the five boroughs of the city. Faith groups, civil rights groups, LGBT groups, anti-hunger groups and many other diverse constituencies are joining forces in the Living Wage NYC coalition.
The fight for living wage jobs is seen as a defining economic justice issue for the future of New York City and all working people. No working person should have to live in poverty. That’s the message being sent loud and clear.
Alta Gracia Could Be Model for Apparel Industry
Alta Gracia, the first apparel factory in the developing world to pay a living wage, is a big step toward setting a new standard for apparel manufacturing around the world. But consumers must be energized to buy the new brand in large numbers before other manufacturers will follow suit, several experts said today.
The market is growing for the Alta Gracia products, mainly college logo T-shirts and sweatshirts, but is limited to college bookstores. Much more needs to be done to convince sympathetic groups like unions, human rights organizations and state and local governments to insist on buying only apparel made by workers who earn a living wage.
Northampton, Mass., City Council Backs Living Wage
With working families trying to stretch every dollar to make ends meet, the City Council in Northampton, Mass., last night unanimously gave final approval to a resolution defining a living wage as a human right. The nonbinding resolution also states the city will attempt to do business with employers that pay living wages and will encourage people to patronize those businesses.
The resolution was sponsored by the 16-member Northampton Living Wage Coalition, most city council members, the Human Rights Commission and the mayor. The resolution defines a living wage as a salary sufficient to meet basic needs such as housing, transportation, food and health care. Using data from the Northampton Housing Authority and the Crittenton Women’s Union, the coalition calculated a living wage in Northampton for a single person without children at $11.90 per hour. The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $8 per hour.
Unions Can Help Create Good Jobs for People of Color
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Increasing union membership is one of the keys to creating more good jobs for all workers, but especially for people of color and those in low-wage jobs, several experts said today. Many of the 8.1 million jobs lost during the current recession have been good jobs, including union jobs in manufacturing. The jobs now created, mainly in the service sector, are less likely to provide what working families need.
In a new report released today, Algernon Austin, director of the Economic Policy Institute’s (EPI‘s) program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy, says the United States has too few good jobs. He defines a good job as one with a wage that can support a family, health care benefits and retirement security. Using that minimal standard, Austin found that Hispanics are less than half as likely as non-Hispanic whites to have good jobs, and African Americans about two-thirds as likely.
Inequality Could Keep Economy from Full Recovery
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The federal stimulus package is a good way to jump-start our economy, but it is not enough to solve the deep crisis of inequality that has been building in this country for decades. A recent article says the government needs to act quickly to start addressing the growing income gap.
In an article in The Nation online, Christine Owens and Annette Bernhardt, executive director and policy co-director, respectively, of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), say working families were struggling to survive even before the current recession. Although U.S. workers are more productive than ever, they are faced with stagnant wages, disappearing benefits and little job security. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that eight of the top 10 occupations projected to generate the most jobs by 2016 are low-wage jobs in the service sector.
Take a Virtual Tour and See What It’s Like to Work Hard—and Live in Poverty
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Service workers at the University of California’s (UC’s) 10 campuses and five medical centers have been trying for more than a year to negotiate a deal that would pay them a decent wage. The workers are paid so little that a recent study found as many as 96 percent of them can qualify for at least one form of public assistance.
Higher gas prices and stagnant wages are creating a crisis for many of these workers who must live paycheck to paycheck. Now, the workers are getting the message out about what it’s like to live in poverty. They invited elected officials and faith leaders into their homes to see for themselves the impact of poverty wages on their lives and their families. (Take a virtual tour of UC-created poverty through the video above or visit the Facing Poverty at UC website here.)
