Campaigning for a Living Wage: CWA in the Forefront of Nationwide Movement

Unless some serious downturn occurs soon, the last year of the 20th Century will go down in record books as the best economic year in America's history. Record stock market gains made a few people very rich; the lowest unemployment rate in 25 years gave evidence that America was back at work.

But that's only part of the story. In fact, the booming economy has widened the gap between the haves and have-nots. And, while fewer people are on the unemployment rolls, hundreds of thousands are working long hours for less than subsistence wages.

In a report by the Jobs with Justice coalition and the National Priorities Project entitled, "Working Hard, Earning Less, the Story of Job Growth in America," the authors note that: "When politicians boast about our strong economy, they frequently point to the number of new jobs, which have brought unemployment to the lowest level in 24 years, as the greatest evidence of good times." The researchers found, however, that nationwide, "almost half the jobs with the most growth pay less than half a livable wage. In fact, 74 percent of all new jobs pay below a livable wage."

An average "living wage" is defined by Jobs with Justice as $32,185 for a family of four, although it is tied to the cost-of-living index and varies by geographic region from a low in West Virginia of $28,264 to a high in Massachusetts of $38,488. "That is the income required to provide a family with a very modest lifestyle, barely above subsistence. It does not even allow for them to own a home," says Fred Azcarate, Jobs with Justice executive director.

Holding down two or more jobs, sharing living quarters, and relying on the welfare system for health care and food stamps has become a way of life for unskilled workers throughout the nation. Even then, many can't make ends meet and find themselves among the homeless. In Virginia, for example, a recent survey found that 59 percent of the 54,000 people living in shelters throughout the state cited "low wages/benefits" as the reason for their plight. Nearly half of them were employed when they became homeless, but didn't earn enough to afford housing.

For that reason, CWA Local 2222 has joined 16 other unions in the forefront of the battle for a living wage in Alexandria, Va. The focus of the campaign is on contractors who perform service work for the city. Says Local 2222 President Kenny Rucker, "Our job is to help people see that allowing contractors to use tax dollars to pay workers $5.15 an hour, only to have those workers come back to the city for food stamps and medical care, is not cost effective."

In cities from coast to coast, CWA locals have joined other unions, churches, and community organizations in living wage campaigns, seen by some as the most important grass-roots initiative to emerge since the civil rights movement.

Spearheaded largely by Jobs with Justice and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, living wage laws have been enacted in some 20 major cities and campaigns are developing in at least 30 other localities. Typically, the laws require public contractors to provide a $7.25 to $10 per hour wage and health benefits.


Voters Support Economic Justice

In most cases, living wage laws are implemented by legislative initiative, but in Detroit and several other places, the voters themselves approved living wage measures at the ballot box. In California and Oregon, they went a step farther and voted to raise those states' minimum wages.

CWA Local 7901 in Portland, Ore., was active in raising that state's minimum wage to $6.50 an hour - the highest in the nation. In fact, state Rep. Diane Rosenbaum, chair of the Subcommittee to Increase the Minimum Wage, is a CWA member.

Carla Floyd, Local 7901 president, said: "The bill was several years in the making. To get the measure on the ballot required petitions signed by something like 150,000 people throughout the state, so of course, all our CWA locals and many other unions were active in that aspect of it. Then there was a public information campaign and 'get-out-the-vote' drives to get it passed."

In addition, Local 7901 worked for passage of living wage legislation in Portland. Enacted in 1996, the law has a wage floor with built-in increases that began with $6.75 an hour in 1996 and will go to $8 hourly in July 1999.


Broadening the Scope

While a majority of the living wage campaigns target vendors who contract with local governments, as the movement gains momentum, its scope broadens. In Minneapolis, Oakland, and San Antonio, for instance, businesses that benefit from government subsidies or tax abatements or receive other economic development assistance are covered.

In Maryland, a sweeping living wage bill was scheduled to go before the general assembly, but was narrowly defeated in committee by a vote of 12 to 10. The bill, which labor helped draft, not only calls for living wages for employees of companies that contract with the state government, but all companies that receive any sort of economic assistance or incentives financed by taxpayers. That would include hospitals, nursing homes, and a wide variety of firms lured to the state by tax incentives.

Charles Buttiglieri, executive vice president of CWA Local 2101 and secretary-treasurer of the Central Labor Council, notes that all four CWA locals in the Greater Baltimore area, Locals 2101, 2100, 2110, and 2108, have been actively involved in the lobbying effort for the state bill.

Says Ernest Grecco, president of the Baltimore Central Labor Council: "Business brought out its big guns to squelch this bill in committee, but it was a very narrow defeat and we'll be back next year, fully ready to take them on. Baltimore was the first city in the nation to pass a living wage law and we want Maryland to be the first state to stand up for economic justice in the workplace."


Tale of Two Cities

It's estimated that 4,000 workers have benefitted directly from Baltimore's living wage ordinance and importantly, it has become a model for the state. Since it was enacted in 1994, nearly two dozen of Maryland's municipal government officials reportedly have adopted or are considering proposals to force government contractors to pay higher wages to tens of thousands of workers.

In July 1998, Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening approved the state's first contract requiring the company that cleans the state-owned World Trade Center at Baltimore's Inner Harbor to raise workers' wages from the minimum of $4.25 an hour to $6.60 per hour, thereby improving their sense of stability and dignity. While the $1 million state contract adds an average $86 a week to workers' take-home pay, according to news reports, it costs taxpayers $56,000 less than the previous contract. Other studies have resulted in similar findings in Los Angeles, Portland and elsewhere.

Living wage measures are increasingly seen as logical extensions of welfare-to-work laws. In a recent speech, Glendening noted that many former welfare recipients who find work as janitors, store clerks, gardeners, hotel and restaurant workers often remain poor and still qualify for public assistance.

"'Work, not welfare' is just rhetoric," he said, "unless we take the steps necessary to . . . ensure that honest work at an honest job will provide enough money to support yourself and your family."

In neighboring Alexandria, Va., however, city officials claim their hands are tied by a state procurement law that requires them to "purchase goods and services at the lowest possible prices." They say they cannot require contractors to pay employees any given wage without getting specific permission from the state legislature.

Attorneys for the living wage campaign disagree, charging that Alexandria is dodging the issue by hiding behind the arcane law. Pointing to the state's procurement act, which mandates "award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder," they suggest defining a "responsible bidder" as one who pays its workers a "living wage."

Campaign organizers are attempting to raise public awareness of the issue and thus pressure city officials to reconsider their position. Working with unions, church and community organizations, they have staged two demonstrations and an interfaith prayer vigil. Door-to-door educational activities, notices in church bulletins and letters to editors of local newspapers and City Council members are ongoing.

Local 2222 Vice President Sherry Moon, an Alexandrian who grew up in neighboring Fairfax County, says people need to be told about the poverty in their midst: "When I was a child, my father helped me organize a successful campaign to persuade our segregated county to build a swimming pool for black children. People didn't know we needed a swimming pool until we told them. Today, most taxpayers have no idea that the people who work on city contracts - who clean the city's buildings and maintain public parks - earn less than subsistence wages."