The Living Wage Movement: Organizing for the Long Haul

Abstract

Scene One: A fifty-six-year-old Chicago homecare worker responds to a reporter’s question: what will she do with the money from the raise she just won? “With what I was making before,” she says, “I could only afford food and rent. I couldn’t even afford to go to the doctor. With my raise, I’ll pay off some medical bills from before last Christmas plus some household bills and I’m even going to do something for myself—maybe buy a new pair of work shoes or even a couple of new outfits.”1Scene Two: It’s six o’clock on a Thursday night. The Sacramento City Council chambers are packed. No one can remember the last time there was standingroom- only for a regular Council meeting. Folding chairs are quickly being set up outside the hall to accommodate the overflow crowd. In that same space, a television camera crew sets up its equipment, and a reporter prepares to interview three low-wage workers about why they are here.Over the next five hours, Council members hear from dozens of citizens of all stripes. Clergy from five different religious traditions cite scripture on the dignity of work and the moral obligation to the poor. Teamster truck drivers speak out on behalf of non-union recycling sorters who make minimum wage and are too afraid to testify. Spanish-speaking hotel housekeepers detail their family budget shortfalls. Environmental activists make the link between labor standards and sustainable development. Labor economists summarize studies indicating the modest costs of the proposal at hand. Small business owners enumerate the business benefits of decent pay. City administrators weigh pros and cons, and promise further study.Questions are asked and answered; facts are offered and disputed. Passions and tensions run high. At times, clapping and cheering break out before the mayor calls for silence. Almost everyone stays until the bitter end.