Labor Day, a creation of the labor movement dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers, is fast approaching and the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations (OGR) recognizes this as an opportunity to lift up the struggles of working people and call for greater justice in the workplace.
In honor of Labor Day 2005, which falls on September 5, OGR urges Episcopalians to honor the national holiday with action that will help workers, as Congress returns on September 6 from its annual August recess.
While most of their attention will focus on budget and appropriations issues, there is important legislation pending to help workers that will not pass without constituent pressure. OGR offers the following information to assist Episcopalians as they "strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being." (BCP)
A featured section, Labor Day Living Wage Resources, can be found on the Episcopal Public Policy Network website at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3654_64475_ENG_HTM.htm
A comprehensive history of Labor Day can be found online at:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/aboutdol/laborday.htm
Episcopal Church action
The 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church urged "our elected congresspersons and U.S. senators to initiate or support legislation raising the federal minimum wage to at least $8.70 an hour, this figure being the hourly equivalent of an annual wage at the current Federal poverty line, $18,100 for a family of four persons."
Further examples of Episcopal Church actions seeking economic justice can be found online at: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3654_48597_ENG_HTM.htm
National campaigns
Let Justice Roll Campaign for a Living Wage
In the last three decades, economic security has declined for most workers as good jobs (jobs with family supporting wages and benefits) have disappeared. Most families now must work harder and longer to avoid falling further behind, and as a result families are struggling to balance work, raise their children and care for their aging parents. Others among us, because of age or disability, may not be able to work but deserve to be treated with dignity and to have basic needs met.
"To be true to our shared values, and to reverse the course we are traveling today, we need to rededicate ourselves to advancing a collective agenda to ensure real access to opportunity and to fulfill our hopes and expectations about work, family, our communities and our future. For more information: http://www.ncccusa.org/letjusticeroll.htm.
ACORN's Living Wage website
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, is the nation's oldest and largest grassroots organization of low and moderate income people with more than 150,000 member families organized into 800 neighborhood chapters in 65 cities across the country. Here is a brief history of the national living wage movement, background materials such as ordinance summaries and comparisons, drafting tips, research summaries, talking points, and links to other living wage-related sites. To view ACORN's Living Wage website click here: http://www.livingwagecampaign.org/.
Interfaith Worker Justice
Among the key principles shared by all faiths are the importance of paying workers fairly for their labor and the right of workers to perform their responsibilities with dignity. Interfaith Worker Justice is a network of people of faith that calls upon our religious values in order to educate, organize and mobilize the religious community in the United States on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits and working conditions for workers, especially low-wage workers. For more information click here: http://www.nicwj.org/actnow/min_wage.html.
Jobs with Justice (JwJ)
Founded in 1987, JwJ's mission is to improve working people's standard of living, fight for job security, and protect workers' right to organize. JwJ's core belief is that in order to be successful, workers' rights struggles have to be part of a larger campaign for economic and social justice. To that end, JwJ has created a network of local coalitions that connect labor, faith-based, community, and student organizations to work together on workplace and community social justice campaigns. For more information click here: http://www.jwj.org.
Worship and Study Resources
Interfaith Worker Justice Labor Day Outreach and Worship Resources
Labor Day provides a unique opportunity for both the religious community and the union movement to rediscover their common bonds: social justice, equality, the dignity and respect for all persons, economic justice, and fair treatment in the workplace. IWJ calls upon our religious values in order to educate, organize, and mobilize the religious community in the U.S. on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for workers, especially low-wage workers. For more information about IWJ click here: http://www.iwj.org/aboutus/aboutus.html
For outreach and worship resources from IWJ click on one of the links below:
http://www.iwj.org/outreach/labor_day.html
http://www.iwj.org/materials/materials_worship.html
The National Farm Worker Ministry
The National Farm Worker Ministry has prepared a seven-session Sunday School curriculum for adults and high school students entitled "Blessing the Hands: Farm Worker Issues in a Biblical Context." Users of the curriculum learn about and reflect on farm worker issues through the lens of faith, and explore ways to become part of the farm worker justice movement. For more information visit http://www.nfwm.org/index/index.shtml. A sample lesson can be found at: http://www.ucctakeaction.org/ctt.asp?u=681&l=100199.
To order resources from the National Farm Worker Ministry visit: http://www.ucctakeaction.org/ctt.asp?u=681&l=100192.
Research and Publications
Economic Policy Institute
The Economic Policy Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. For general information on the Living Wage from the Economic Policy Institute click here: http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/issueguides_livingwage_livingwage
United for a Fair Economy (UFE)
UFE is a national, independent, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. UFE raises awareness that concentrated wealth and power undermine the economy, corrupt democracy, deepen the racial divide, and tear communities apart. We support and help build social movements for greater equality. For more information click here: www.faireconomy.org.
Note: The following title is available from the Episcopal Book/Resource Center, 815 Second Ave., New York, NY 10017; 800.334.7626; http://www.episcopalbookstore.org.
TO READ: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Published by Henry Holt, May 2001. Current Affairs / 224 pages
Hardcover / $23.00. ISBN 0-8050-6388-9
"Millions of Americans work full-time, year-round, for poverty-level wages. Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them, inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that any job equals a better life. But how can anyone survive, let alone prosper, on six or seven dollars an hour? To find out Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, taking the cheapest lodgings available and accepting work as a waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, nursing home aide, and Wal-Mart salesperson. She soon discovered that even the "lowliest" occupations require exhausting mental and physical efforts. And one job is not enough; you need at least two if you intend to live indoors.
"Nickel and Dimed reveals low-wage America in all its tenacity, anxiety, and surprising generosity -- a land of Big Boxes, fast food, and a thousand desperate stratagems for survival. Instantly acclaimed for its insight, humor, and passion, this book is changing the way America perceives its working poor." http://www.nickelanddimed.net/.
