Minimum Wage Advocacy Works
Posted on February 1, 2019, by Loretto Community
By Alice Kitchen and Eleanor Craig
The good news is that Loretto is a part of making the lives of low-wage workers more livable. Not only did we take action at our 2018 Assembly when we passed Proposal #7 committing to increasing the wages of our own staff, but we actually did it! As of 2019 the Finance Committee approved a raise of $1.50/hour across the board, raising the Loretto minimum to about $12.
In Missouri the voters raised the minimum wage by state ballot initiative after the Missouri General Assembly nullified the efforts of Kansas City and St. Louis voters. Nationwide, the minimum wage has been raised in 20 states and numerous cities across the country.
But there is still more to do. The federal minimum wage has not increased; it remains at $7.25. And the minimum needed for a living wage is still greater than the wages actually being paid across the nation.
The service industry is the largest part of the economy and the largest group in the workforce. Low-wage workers undergird our daily lives; they care for our children and our elderly, staff our nursing homes and staff our airports. Often these workers have no steady schedule or fixed hours and little say in their hours or locations to which they are sent to work. Many need more than one job, and their employers have no regard for the workers’ other job schedules.
The cost of housing, transportation, childcare and utilities far exceeds the income of one low-wage worker. Often the workers live in shelters, in their cars or with friends and are eligible for some public benefits. No employee should have to live this way. The low-wage workers are today’s “Jim Crow” class. We owe them our persistent efforts to reach a living wage for all.
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