Workers Need a Raise!

“Justice, justice you shall pursue.”  Deuteronomy 16:20

Last week the Raise the Wage Coalition, a coalition of over 80 policy, labor, advocacy, business, civil rights and faith groups, created a week of action in anticipation of the Senate Vote on Minimum Wage.

The week of action began with “Equality Monday” calling for the advancement of equal opportunity for women and people of color.  “Tipped Tuesday” asked for a wage that will help tipped workers be more secure economically.  “Worker Wednesday” sought to highlight how the $10.10 minimum wage increase will improve the lives of working families.  “Prosperity Thursday” aimed to identify how an increased minimum wage will be instrumental in creating a strong economy that will help small businesses prosper.  "Faith Friday" identified the moral case for raising the minimum wage.

Click here to email your Senators in support of above-poverty wages for low-wage workers. 

The Minimum Wage Fairness Act legislation (S.1737), would increase the national minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016, with automatic cost-of-living adjustments thereafter, and set the base rate for tipped workers at 70% of the full minimum wage.

The week of action came during the Lenten Season, and as we are called to witness both by God and our denomination we must name the need to raise the minimum wage.  The current minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is a poverty wage. A $10.10 minimum wage will keep a family of 3 out of poverty, it would lift an estimated 900,000 people out of poverty, and it will give low-income workers the opportunity to be economically independent.  Not only will raising the federal minimum wage bring economic security to minimum wage earners working full time, it would also help boost our economy.  According to the Economic Policy Institute, raising the minimum wage would generate more than $22 billion in new economic activity and contribute 85,000 new jobs to the economy over the phase-in period.  Finally, by some estimates the $10.10 minimum wage increase will help 3.5 million Americans cycle off of SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) and create $4.6 billion in annual savings.[1]  

The minimum wage, which has been losing real value since its peak in 1968, has created a permanent community of working poor persons.  Our Presbyterian 1967 Confession of Faith states, “Because Jesus identified himself with the needy and exploited, the cause of the world’s poor is the cause of his disciples…A church that is indifferent to poverty …offers no acceptable worship to God.”[2]  The 208^th General Assembly (1996) asserted the need to “provide incentives for productive employment for the unemployed, including a livable minimum wage.”[3]  In 2006, the 217^th General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the PC(USA) to “communicate to all members of Congress its desire that legislation to increase the minimum wage…with the goal of a wage level sufficient to lift full-time workers out of poverty.”[4] 

Click here to see a recent article discussing "What Scripture Tells Us About Minimum Wage" written by Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson & David Beckmann.

Brothers and Sisters, the issue of the minimum wage is still a moral issue.  Let us join with each other, with the larger faith community, and with all those in our community pressuring our Congress to raise the minimum wage.  Let us pursue justice together.

Click here to write to your Senators.

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[1] If we #RaiseTheWage, it will help 3.5 million Americans get off foodstamps and create $4.6 billion in annual savingshttp://ampr.gs/1mV0vcB

[2] The Confession of 1967, 9.46

[3] Minutes, 1996, pp. 494-495

[4] Minutes, 2006, pp.894-895

Prayers for a Just Economy

Litany from Today's Prayer Service:

Prayers for a Just Economy

On the National Day of Action to Raise Wages

July 24, 2013

 

Gathering Music

Welcome and Reflection – Rev. Michael Livingston

Opening prayer

God of Grace, you have gifted us with a world of abundance; a land of plenty; a country where all can have enough. We come before you this day to thank you for this prosperity and to repent from our apparent inability to share this wealth. God, we stand across from temples of power to declare our own complicity in systems that sustain some of us, while forsaking many others. And we come before you to seek your forgiveness, even as we pray for your justice.

Righteous God, you hear the cry of the poor. You listen to those who do without, while so many spend recklessly and our leaders invest the wealth of the nation in instruments of destruction.

Be with us this day Lord. Hear our prayers. Touch our hearts that we may be faithful witnesses and effective voices for justice. God of mercy, hear our prayer.  Amen.

Readings from the Sacred Texts

Hebrew Scriptures:  Deuteronomy 24:14-15

Holy Qur’an: Surah Al-Mutaffifin, 83:1-4

New Testament: Acts 4:32, 34-35

A Responsive Prayer for Justice[1]

Pray for those who are hungry.

Pray harder for those who will not feed them.

Pray for those who struggle each week to pay their bills.

Pray harder for the wealthy who do not care.

Pray for those who are homeless.

Pray harder for those who deny them shelter.

Pray for the sick and lonely.

Pray harder for those who will not give them comfort.

Pray for those who cry out for dignity.

Pray harder for those who will not listen.

Pray for those oppressed by unjust wages.

Pray harder for those who exploit them.

Pray for those who bear the yoke of prejudice.

Pray harder for those who discriminate against them.

Pray for those whose basic needs are denied.

Pray harder for public officials who cater to the greedy and ignore those bound unjustly. Amen.

Intercessory Prayers

And now let us, as a community of faith, surround in prayer all those who are struggling on the economic margins. Who have not shared in the great abundance God has entrusted to our care. Who have been left behind by the so-called recovery and who are unemployed or underemployed or unjustly employed – laboring full-time and yet living in poverty.  And let us pray for all those engaged in our unjust economic system: the laborers, the managers, the owners, the policy-makers and yes, we the consumers  - each who has a role and responsibility in creating a faithful economy that once again values work and honors the dignity of all workers.

 Hear now our prayers O God:

We pray today for all those who are seeking employment. For those who are facing an uncertain future – whether they are experiencing joblessness for the first time today or are among the millions of the long-term unemployed who have been out of work for six months or longer.  God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray today for those who are working in low-wage jobs, who work full-time and yet remain trapped in poverty -- workers who are fighting for fair wages, respect and dignity in their workplace.  God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for children whose parents must often work two or three jobs to afford shelter, food and clothing. And for moms and dads and family members who struggle with the difficult choice of working multiple jobs to provide for their family and cannot tuck their children into bed each night or see them off to school in the morning. God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for those who labor in the fields to provide us food each day.  For the farm workers who too often work beneath the hot sun without shade and in the deadly heat without water and who do not even make sufficient wages to buy the food they are harvesting. God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray today for our brothers and sisters who work in the shadow of a broken and unjust immigration system – workers who face discrimination and exploitation and whose rights are too often denied because of intimidation and fear of deportation. God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for all those who labor in restaurants and earn as little as $2.13 per hour – the ‘tipped wage’ which has not been raised in twenty-two years. God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for ethical employers who share fairly the earnings of their businesses with all their workers. For those who pay living wages and provide benefits sufficient for workers to support themselves and their families. God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for those employers who have not yet learned to value their workers or recognize their inherent dignity.  For those CEOs and managers who have hoarded riches and yet denied fair wages to all those employed by their companies. We pray, God that you might turn their hearts of stone into hearts of compassion. God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for our President that he might use the power of his office to lead by example and guarantee that all workers on federal property are paid a living wage, God of justice, hear our prayer

We pray for all our elected leaders that they might place our brothers and sisters struggling on the margins at the very center of their deliberations.  That they would support policies that create good jobs with living wages. That Congress would increase the minimum wage so that no one again would be forced to work full-time and still live in poverty. God of justice, hear our prayer

And finally, we pray that we as your faithful community might use our voices and our resources to build a just economy – an economy of shared prosperity where workers earn living wages and all our brothers and sisters live lives of dignity. God of justice, hear our prayer

God of Justice – we lift up all these prayers to you in the knowledge that you are already at work amid the brokenness of our economic system and that you invite each of us to be a part of your holy work of justice. God we offer to you these prayers today – both spoken aloud and those in our hearts - that together we might be the people you have called us to be reflecting your compassion, mercy and justice in all that we do.  In your many holy names we pray – Amen.

Benediction and Sending Forth

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[1] by Rebecca Sutton Program Coordinator of Global Women’s Exchange

This prayer was developed for the NY State Labor-Religion Coalition’s seventh annual 40-hour fast.

Interfaith Appeal for Increase in the Minimum Wage

July 24, 2013 

Dear Member of Congress, 

As communities of faith united by our common religious traditions and values of justice and compassion, we write to you today to urge you to co-sponsor and support the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (S. 460/H.R. 1010) introduced by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George Miller. 

This important piece of legislation would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by 2015 in three increments of 95 cents. The bill would also provide for annual increases in the rate in future years to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Lastly, for the first time in 22 years the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would raise the minimum wage for tipped workers from its current low rate of $2.13 by 95 cents per year until it is 70% of the regular minimum wage. 

Four years have passed since the official end of the recession, yet workers across the country continue to struggle with a sluggish recovery. Now is the time to raise the federal minimum wage. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 30 million workers would see a boost to their income if this bill was passed. In addition, the Fair Minimum Wage Act would generate more than $32 billion in new economic activity, translating to 140,000 new full-time jobs and assisting local economies and communities. 

Our common scriptures present a vision of shared responsibility, commanding that we care for the vulnerable among us and also endows the notion of work with an inherent dignity. Right now it is imperative that our nation’s leaders keep our economy on the pathway to a healthy recovery and support low-wage workers. We believe you can do so by co-sponsoring and supporting the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013. 

To sign on as a co-sponsor please contact John D’Elia (John.D’Elia@mail.house.gov) in Representative Miller’s office or Liz Weiss (Liz_Weiss@help.senate.gov) in Senator Harkin’s office. 

Sincerely, 

American Friends Service Committee 

Bend the Arc Jewish Action 

Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA) 

Cincinnati Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice (CICWJ) 

Conference of Major Superiors of Men (CMSM) 

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) 

Detroit Interfaith Worker Justice 

Disciples Justice Action Network 

The Episcopal Church 

Friends Committee on National Legislation 

Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition 

Ignatian Solidarity Network 

Interfaith Worker Justice 

Jewish Council for Public Affairs 

The Jewish Labor Committee 

Jewish Women International 

Leadership Conference on Women Religious (LCWR) 

Let Justice Roll 

National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd 

National Council of Jewish Women 

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby 

Office of Social Justice of the Christian Reformed Church 

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) 

Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team 

South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice 

Union for Reform Judaism 

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations 

United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries 

The United Methodist Church- General Board of Church and Society

U.S. Jesuit Conference 

New Poll Shows that 80% of Americans Support Raising the Federal Minimum Wage

From the National Employment Law Project: 

NEW POLL: Overwhelming Majority of Americans View Minimum Wage Increase as Important Priority for Congress Over Next Year 

Members of Congress call for passage of Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 after four years without a federal minimum wage increase; rallies planned in over 30 cities across the country to demand higher wages for millions of America’s lowest-paid workers.

Washington, DC – As four years pass without an increase in the federal minimum wage, a new poll released Wednesday finds that 80 percent of Americans – including 62 percent of Republicans and 80 percent of Independents – support raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour and indexing it to the cost of living, as proposed in the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Rep. George Miller (D-CA) earlier this year. According to the poll, 74 percent of Americans consider raising the minimum wage to be an important legislative priority for Congress to address over the next year.

As members of Congress, business leaders, and workers gather in Washington on Wednesday to call for immediate passage of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013, thousands of low-wage workers and their supporters in over 30 cities throughout the U.S. will hold rallies at major retail and fast food corporations, as part of a National Day of Action to raise wages for millions of America’s lowest-paid workers.

With congressional leaders signaling plans to make raising the federal minimum wage a high-profile issue ahead of the 2014 midterm elections, the new poll finds that Congressional candidates who support legislation raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour gain a substantial 36 percent net advantage (51% more likely to support, 15% less).  [Top-line results of poll available here]

 “Four years without a raise is three years too many,” said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) on Wednesday. “While millions of workers have been without a raise, costs have continued to climb. Between 2009 and 2012, rent has gone up 4 percent, food is 8 percent more expensive, child care costs 9 percent more, and public transportation takes a 13 percent bigger bite out of workers’ wallets.  We have to make sure that working families can keep up with the economy. Also, by increasing the minimum wage, we can give tens of millions of workers more money in their paychecks to spend at local businesses, increasing sales and boosting economic activity.”

“The American people understand that a decent minimum wage is not a handout,” said Rep. George Miller (D-CA). “It’s about valuing work. The pressure to act is building.  We now see majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents in all corners of the country support this raise. The time has come for American workers to get a raise. It’s time to grow our economy from the bottom up.”

At a noon press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday, Rep. Miller will join Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Rep. Donna F. Edwards (D-MD) in calling for Congressional action to pass the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (H.R. 1010 / S. 460). Over 140 members of the House of Representatives have joined as co-sponsors of the Fair Minimum Wage Act, along with 30 members of the Senate.

The Hart Research poll confirms that opposition to the federal minimum wage remains an extreme position that is out of step with the views of the vast majority of voters. Last month, Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) stated in a Senate HELP Committee hearing that he would favor abolishing the federal minimum wage altogether: according to the poll, fully 80 percent of voters, including 72 percent of Republican voters, disagree with abolishing the minimum wage.

“When it comes to the minimum wage, every year without an increase means that millions of America’s lowest-paid workers are forced to take a pay cut as the cost of basic expenses continues to rise,” said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project Action Fund. “Stagnant wages are a recipe for disaster for working families and the America economy alike.”

The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would raise the federal minimum wage from the current rate of $7.25 to $10.10 per hour by 2015, and it would provide for annual increases to the rate in future years to keep pace with the rising cost of living, a key reform known as “indexing” that  ten states have already successfully implemented. The bill would also raise the minimum wage for tipped workers from its current low rate of $2.13 per hour, where it has been frozen since 1991, to 70 percent of the full minimum wage.

Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour would boost pay for more than 30 million low-wage workers. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, 88 percent of these workers are adults over the age of 20; 85 percent work more than 20 hours per week; and 43 percent have at least some college education.  The minimum wage is also a staple of support for many families:  more than 15 million children in the U.S. have a parent who would benefit from raising the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.

With 70 percent of the economy driven by consumer demand, businesses cite lack of demand as a major reason they are not hiring. However, with overall wage growth stagnant and declining in low paid occupations, many consumers just don’t have the money to spend. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would generate more than $32 billion in new economic activity, supporting the creation of 140,000 new full-time jobs as businesses expand to meet increased demand.

The most rigorous economic research over the past 20 years shows that raising the minimum wage boosts worker pay without causing job losses – even in regions where the economy is weak or unemployment is high. A recent study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research reviews the past two decades of research on the impact of minimum wage increases on employment and concludes that “the weight of the evidence points to little or no effect of minimum wage increases on job growth.”

The National Employment Law Project Action Fund is a project of The Advocacy Fund.

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Raise the Minimum Wage

A Job Should Keep You Out of Poverty, Not Trap You In It!

"Our economy is stronger when we reward an honest day's work with honest wages…no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, [we must] raise the federal minimum wage." –President Obama, State of the Union Address, February 12, 2013”

On June 25, 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law the Fair Labor Standards Act, creating a minimum wage, overtime, and basic labor standards.  Seventy-five years later, these core labor protections are still the cornerstone of the U.S. economy.  This bill was instrumental in ensuring that workers, especially those who are most vulnerable to unscrupulous employers, can make a living and provide for their families. 

Four years ago today, the last increase from the 2007 bill to raise the federal minimum wage took effect, bringing the federal minimum wage to its current $7.25 per hour. People who work full-time at a minimum wage job, earn $15,080 per year.   This means that a full-time minimum-wage worker cannot even meet federal poverty level standards if they have any dependent family members.  For instance, for a family of three (one adult, two children), the poverty threshold is $19,530.  But minimum wage work has not always trapped workers in poverty.  Indeed, the minimum wage used to grow in relative proportion to productivity and size of the economy.  In 1968, the height of the minimum wage’s value, the wage floor was the equivalent of $10.67 in today’s dollars.

Write to your Members of Congress today – a job should keep you out of poverty, not trap you in it.

Currently there are bills in Congress to address this injustice -- the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (S. 460 / H.R. 1010), sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin [D-IA] Representative George Miller [D-CA].  This bill seeks to bring the wage up to $10.10 per hour, and index it to inflation, so that low-wage workers will see some of the benefits of the economic growth that has been reaching only those earners at the very top of the income scale in recent years.   The Fair Minimum Wage Act will raise the wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.10 in three steps of 95 cents each over 2 years.  After that, the minimum wage will see annual, automatic cost-of-living increases, tied to inflation.  And perhaps even more important, these bills will break the 22-year freeze on the minimum wage for tipped workers, which has stagnated at $2.13 per hour since 1991.  These bills will bring the tipped wage up, in 95-cent increments, until it is 70% of the regular minimum wage, after which it will also be tied to inflation.

These are some essential steps toward spreading out some of the economic gains in our economy, and those who may find this increase precipitous, should note that, even after full enactment of the wage increase, which could not possibly take place until 2015 at the earliest, the annual salary of those working a full-time minimum-wage job will be just $21,008, which still leaves low-income families too vulnerable.  The minimum wage is intended to act a wage floor in the labor market, but we have a long way to go before achieving living wages for all.

Send a message to your Members of Congress now!  Urge them to cosponsor these bills.

The Presbyterian Church has a long history of supporting the rights of workers to earn fair wages, good benefits, and safe working conditions.  Indeed, in recognizing the value and dignity of work, the 2008 Social Creed for the 21^st Century, adopted by the PC(USA) and our ecumenical partners, says:

“In faith, responding to our Creator, we celebrate the full humanity of each woman, man, and child, all created in the divine image as individuals of infinite worth, by working for…

• Employment for all, at a family-sustaining living wage, with equal pay for comparable work.
• The rights of workers to organize, and to share in workplace decisions and productivity growth.
• Protection from dangerous working conditions, with time and benefits to enable full family life.

Indeed, our biblical tradition also reminds us that the livelihood of workers is a responsibility of the community, for the prophet Malachi, echoing earlier laws and prophets, prophesies, “Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against… those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.” (3:5)

The system of low-wage work in the U.S. ensures that those who are vulnerable and have little will stay that way.  Low-wage work cannot support a family, nor provide workers with the necessary supports to climb out of poverty.  A job should keep workers out of poverty, not in it!

As part of his salvific ministry, Jesus said, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.”  In the tradition of the Savior who came to bring good news to the disheartened, dispirited, and disenfranchised, we must support social justice for all God’s children.  Write to you Members of Congress today. Four years is too long without a raise.  Now is the time to raise the minimum wage.

PC(USA) Joins other Faith Groups in Supporting Minimum Wage Increase

March 5, 2013

Dear Member of Congress,

As communities of faith united by our common religious traditions and values of justice and compassion, we write to you today to urge you to co-sponsor and support the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 recently introduced by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George Miller.

This important piece of legislation would raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 in three increments of 95 cents. The bill would also provide for annual increases indexed to inflation to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Lastly, for the first time in 22 years, the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would raise the minimum wage for tipped workers from its current low rate of $2.13 by 95 cents per year until it is 70% of the regular minimum wage.

Four years have passed since the official end of the recession, yet workers across the country continue to struggle with a sluggish recovery. Now is the time to raise the federal minimum wage. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), 30 million workers would see a boost to their income if this bill passed. In addition, the Fair Minimum Wage Act would boost GDP by $33 billion and generate 140,000 new jobs, encouraging workers to spend more money in their communities and stimulate local economies.

Our common scriptures present a vision of shared responsibility, commanding that we care for the vulnerable among us and also endows the notion of work with an inherent dignity. Right now, it is imperative that our nation’s leaders keep our economy on the pathway to a healthy recovery and support low-wage workers. We believe you can do so by co-sponsoring and supporting the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013.

To sign on as a co-sponsor please contact Celine McNicholas (Celine.McNicholas@mail.house.gov) in Representative Miller’s office or Liz Weiss (Liz_Weiss@help.senate.gov) in Senator Harkin’s office.

Sincerely,

American Friends Service Committee
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE-LA)
Cincinnati Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice (CICWJ)
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Detroit Interfaith Worker Justice
Disciples Justice Action Network
The Episcopal Church
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
Interfaith Worker Justice
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
The Jewish Labor Committee
Jewish Women International
Leadership Conference on Women Religious (LCWR)
Let Justice Roll
National Advocacy center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Council of Jewish Women
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
Office of Social Justice of the Christian Reformed Church
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Sisters of Mercy Institute Justice Team
South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations
United Church of Christ Justice and Witness Ministries
The United Methodist Church- General Board of Church and Society
U.S. Jesuit Conference