Video: WIN director discusses living wage repeal on Fox 13

Workers Interfaith Network talks on Fox 13 about the state legislature's attempt to repeal your local living wage laws.

State Bill Could End Fair Wage Law: MyFoxMEMPHIS.com

Ready to take action? Sign the petition to the House State and Local Government Committee, urging members to vote no on the living wage repeal.

March 7th Lobby Day: Your Chance to Defend Workers' Rights

Legislators' decisions in Nashville will have major impact on workers throughout state

"There's just an energy in the air," Renee Dillard says of her experience at Lobby Day last year.



State Decisions, Local Impact

     What happens in Nashville does not stay in Nashville. Decisions made by state legislators can change the lives of workers in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, and all across the state.

    Just ask public school teachers who lost their right to collective bargaining last year. Or ask a low-wage worker at the University of Memphis who finally got her first pay raise in four years.

    That's why Workers Interfaith Network and the United Campus Workers union invite you to join forces in a statewide Lobby Day at the legislature on Wednesday, March 7th.

Your Chance to Be Courageous

     Before participating in Lobby Day last year, Rev. Renee Dillard says she hadn't been to the state capitol since a 7th grade field trip. "Lobbying was a little intimidating to think about," she says. "But the training I got ahead of time helped me know what to expect and how to talk about the issues. On Lobby Day, I met new people, and the exchanges we had with legislators were more positive than I thought they would be. It felt good to know I was doing my part to make a difference with workers."

What We're Asking Legislators to Do

      On Lobby Day, we'll be pressing our legislators on two main issues. The first is rejecting a dangerous and misguided bill that bans living wage ordinances in our state. If passed, Sen. Kelsey and Rep. Casada's bill will repeal large portions of the living wage laws that the City of Memphis and Shelby County passed years ago. The bills are just one example of conversative lawmakers who say they believe in local government control for one moment, then turn around and interfere in local affairs when they don't like something a city governmet does.

      The second focus of Lobby Day will be pressing legislators to pass a fair pay raise for employees at public colleges and universities across Tennessee. In his State of the State address, Gov. Haslam proposed a 2.5 percent pay raise for state workers. While this proposal is a good start, a percentage raise won't do much for workers who are paid poverty wages. For example, a typical custodian at the University of Memphis would get a $425 annual raise under the Governor's proposal, while the University President would get a $7,600 raise.

    At Lobby Day, you'll be pushing for a much more fair solution: a $1 per hour pay increase for all higher education employees. While top administrators don't need a huge bump in pay, ordinary workers will use this pay raise to meet urgent, basic needs for their families.

    During Lobby Day, we'll also rally on the capitol steps for good jobs and living wages at noon.

Sign up for March 7th Lobby Day

    Register for Lobby Day online or call Zach Ferguson at 901-332-3570 for more information. Once you have registered, we'll schedule lobbying appointments for you and arrange for your transportation. At this point, we know for sure we will have buses leaving from Memphis and Knoxville, and there will probably be caravans forming in other cities.

Schedule for Lobby Day

The Memphis bus will leave at 5:30 a.m. Central time and the Knoxville bus will leave at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time.

9:00 - 10:30   Training for lobbying teams

10:30 - noon   Visits to legislators in teams

Noon - 1:00    Rally on the capitol steps

1:00 - 3:00     Visits to legislators and/or lunch break

3:00                Return to home cities

Your best shot at protecting workers rights in the legislature

      The Tennessee legislature went into session this week, spending most of its time fighting over re-districting lines. But it won't take long before legislators begin debating bills that will have a big impact on the rights of workers across our state.

      Workers Interfaith Network wants to help advocates like you be more prepared and informed this year. That's why we're launching a brand new email list dedicated to tracking and taking action on worker rights bills in the legislature. Sign up here so that you'll know exactly what to do when critical bills come up, like:

• positive bills that will create fair raises for Tennessee's public higher education workers
• negative bills that will repeal our local living wage and prevailing wage laws
• negative bills that will take away the voice of union members in our political process
• negative bills that scapegoat immigrant workers and don't protect their labor rights.

      You may have noticed a pattern: a lot more negative proposals than positive ones. If you kept up with 2011 legislative session, you know that workers' rights were under heavy attack.

      Tennessee's teachers were stripped of the collective bargaining rights they had for over 30 years. Legislators passed a bill that gives permission to local government contractors to discriminate against workers based on sexual orientation. Another law passed requires Tennessee employers to use the deeply flawed e-verify system to check workers' immigration status, an act that will surely lead to hiring discrimination against job applicants who look or sound foreign.

      If you're like me, you're ready to let legislators know that you expect them to stand up for Tennessee's workers, not attack them. So please, sign up for legislative alerts today.

     You may be asking, "If I already get emails from WIN, do I need to sign up for legislative alerts?" Yes, if you want to take action at the legislature, please sign up. This is a separate list from our general WIN email list, which mostly concerns local Memphis issues.

     How else can you stand with Tennessee's workers at the legislature this year?

• Share this post on your Twitter or Facebook page, or easily email to your friends by clicking on one of the buttons at the end of this post. Let people know why you're signing up for alerts, and encourage them to as well. We need folks from every county in the state to sign up!
• If you're part of a union, community group, or congregation that has a gathering coming up, use our print sign up sheet to collect names of others who want to be on the list. Then, just mail it back to WIN using the address at the bottom of the sign up sheet.
• Save the date for a worker rights lobby day in Nashville on Wednesday, March 7th.  Transportation will be available from Memphis and Knoxville, and may be available from other cities too. More information will be coming soon on the blog and through the legislative alert email list.

Gov. Haslam must go farther in stopping living wage repeal

Last week, Gov. Bill Haslam stated in a national CBS story that he didn't think the state should be getting involved in local governments' decisions about passing living wage laws. But Haslam stopped short of saying whether he would veto a proposed legislature ban on local living wage ordinances.

Sign the petition to Gov. Haslam, telling him he should commit now to vetoing any ban or repeal of living wage ordinances in Tennessee communities.

What is this bill about?
For those of you who are new to the living wage fight here in Tennessee, here's some background. In 2006, the City of Memphis passed our state's first living wage ordinance, require the City's contractors to pay workers at least $10.27 an hour with health insurance, or $12.32 an hour without insurance. In 2007, Shelby County passed a similar law for their local government contractors.

The logic behind these laws is simple: workers on government contracts are doing work for the City and are paid by taxpayer dollars. Therefore, the City has a special responsibility to make sure its resources are not being used to create poverty jobs.

Ever since activists like you got these living wage laws passed, state legislators (including many who don't live anywhere near Shelby County) have tried to get these laws repealed.

What happened to local control?
While a living wage should not be a partisan issue, most Republican state legislators are not in favor of living wage initiatives. As the Tennessee legislature has grown a deeper shade of red the past couple of years, this has put our local living wage laws in serious jepoardy.

The ban on living wages would also mean other local governments in Tennessee would never be able to debate and consider their own living wage laws for their local government contractors.

Gov. Haslam stated in the CBS article that "he's not a fan of living wages." We're not asking him or state legislators to promote living wage laws.

We are asking them to uphold a principle that conservatives do say they support: local decisions should be made at the local level. Aren't our local elected officials in a better position to decide what to do with their own contracts than the state is? If the federal government had new requirements for state of Tennessee contractors, conservative state legislators would howl about big government interference in their affairs.

Gov. Haslam's statements are a good start to taking the momentum away from the living wage repeal bill. But we need more than just words: we need a commitment that he will veto this bill if the legislature passes it.

What you can do:

• Sign our change.org petition to Gov. Haslam urging him to pledge to veto the living wage repeal.
• Spread the word among your friends across Tennessee that their signatures are also needed. Change.org  has easy to use features that allow you to share the petition with your Facebook friends, on Twitter, or by email.

Misleading comments from Sen. Brian Kelsey
    In the CBS article about Haslam's comments, Sen. Brian Kelsey, a sponsor of the anti-living wage bill, tried to claim his actions stem from a concern about the working poor. The truth is that Sen. Kelsey is trying to mislead people about what local living wage ordinances actually do.

    Kelsey claims that living wage ordinances cause unemployment among minority teens, presumably because companies paying living wages would no longer want to hire these young workers. His statement makes people think that living wage ordinances cover all businesses, when they are actually very targeted.

    Living wage ordinances only cover local government contractors, and only cover the jobs that are performed directly for the City or County. The jobs covered by our local living wage laws are primarily janitorial, security, and landscaping jobs worked during the school day. Teens would not be filling these jobs even if they paid the minimum wage. Furthermore, the Shelby County ordinance specifically exempts contractors from paying a living wage to persons under the age of 18 or those completing student internships.

Do you hear an outcry from businesses?
    Rep. Glen Casada, sponsor of the House version of the anti-living wage bill, complains that living wage ordinances are just too burdensome on businesses. In a Tennessean article, he said businesses just can't keep up with different wage requirements in different places.

    If this is true, where is the outcry from businesses in Memphis and Shelby County about our living wage ordinances? When these bills were being debated, I was present at each of the three City votes and County votes where the bill was heard. No business came forward to say that these ordinances would hurt them if passed. I've heard legislators like Casada claim to speak for these businesses, but I haven't seem local contractors going to the legislature, calling for the living wage repeal to be passed.

    The truth is, the living wage repeal is not being requested by businesses. It is a huge overreach by state government into local government affairs. And it hurts workers who have been taking care of their families for years now with the living wages they earn. We must let Gov. Haslam, and all our legislators know, that Tennesseans do not want this bill.

Tennessee Legislative Wrap-Up: One for the Record Books

     The Tennessee General Assembly adjourned on Saturday, after months of attacking workers rights from many angles. The glimmers of hope: our local living wage laws withstood attempts to repeal them, and state workers got their first raise in four years. But the bad news is pretty awful: teachers' rights to collective bargaining were largely shredded; local governments can't prohibit discrimination; and all employers will have to use an incredibly flawed e-verify system to check job applicants eligibility to work.




Rev. Mary Edwards was one of dozens of WIN members who raised her voice for workers at the state legislature this year.


Here are the details on some of the most important bills affecting workers:

Teachers' Collective Bargaining
    Originally, anti-teacher forces tried to take away teachers' collective bargaining rights entirely. At the last minute, a compromise was arrived at that greatly reduces the role that teachers' unions can have in influencing teachers' working conditions.
    School districts are no longer required to engage in collective bargaining in districts where teachers have voted for union representation. Instead, teachers will elect committees of people to represent them. Union representatives can run for positions on these committees, but others will be included as well. The end result of negotiations will be memoranda of understanding, which cannot be legally enforced in the same way that a union contract can. And, while negotiations can include pay, insurance, and benefits, the committees will have no say over job assignments, bonuses, and other issues that are supposed to be related to student achievement.


Immigration
    Fortunately, consideration of an Arizona copypcat bill was delayed until 2012 because of the giant price tag to implementing the bill. So for now, local law enforcement isn't charged with enforcing federal immigration law.
   However, another misguided attempt by the state to take on immigration did pass: requiring employers to use the federal e-verify system to check job applicants' eligibility to work. While this may sound harmless, the Social Security's e-verify system is riddled with errors. It's also possible that the broader use of e-verify could lead to more wage theft. WIN has already seen employers who hire workers and wait to use the e-verify system until after they've done days or weeks of work. Federal law requires employers to pay these workers for the labor they've already done, even if they don't have proper work authorization. But plenty of employers will refuse to pay workers, using e-verify as an excuse.
    Tennessee employers will have to begin using the e-verify system in 2012.

Pay raises for University workers
    The budget passed by the legislature includes a 1.6% for all state workers, including University of Memphis employees. This is a step forward since the vast majority of workers haven't had any raise in four years.
    But if this very modest amount is distributed as a percentage amount, low-wage workers like U. of M. custodians could see only a $10 raise per pay period. As a WIN member, you've been pushing the University administration to distribute the raise as an equal dollar cost of living increase to all employees, so that it makes a real difference to workers who aren't paid a living wage. The University has not yet announced how the raise will be distributed, so we are still hopeful they will listen to the community outcry on this issue.

Criminalizing labor unions
    House and Senate committees passed a terrible bill that would allowed injunctions to be issued again unions for any violence committed by their members, even if the union did not condone the violence. The bill includes “intimidation” as “unlawful violence.”  An employee or employer could claim that asking someone to sign a petition in support of collective bargaining or even a political candidate constitutes “intimidation.” The bill only addressed violence by unions, and deliberately did not address possible violence by company officials against workers.
    Fortunately, this misguided bill was not passed on the House and Senate floor, and instead was sent back to committee for next year.

Repeal of Memphis and Shelby County living wage ordinances
    This bill, which would have invalidated large parts of the living wage ordinances you worked so hard to get passed, has been sent to summer study committee. Bills are often sent to summer study when there is not enough support to pass them. WIN will be monitoring the study committee, but it may be that the bill is not even brought up for discussion over the summer.


Special access to discriminate act
    All people have the right to work, regardless of their sexual orientation. But this bill takes away local governments abilities to stop discrimination among contractors who are funded by taxpayer dollars.

    The special access to discriminate act prohibits local governments in Tennessee from telling their contractors not to discriminate against workers because of their sexual orientation. It revokes an ordinance just passed by Nashville Metro Government which bars discrimination by the city's contractors.
   The bill passed both the House and Senate and has been signed into law by Governor Haslam, but a court challenge by opponents of the bill is expected.

Want to take action with workers seeking justice? Sign up for email action alerts from Workers Interfaith Network at http://www.workersinterfaithnetwork.org/index/involved/subscribe.htm

State Legislative Update: Your Action Still Needed

     Here's your update on worker rights bills in the Tennessee Legislature. Workers still need you to sign a quick petition or make a short phone call on some of these bills.

     While this has been a very tough legislative session, you've shown that when Tennesseans act together, we can stall, and sometimes defeat, bad bills that attack workers' rights.

Taking away teachers' collective bargaining
     This bill takes away the right that Tennessee teachers have had for other 30 years to sit down with school boards to negotiate their wages and working conditions. Educational reform does not have to include taking away teachers' rights.     
Latest update: This bill has passed the Senate and was expected to pass the House yesterday. But a surprise amendment meant the bill has to go back to the Education committee again. This could mean that the votes are not present to pass the bill.                                                                                        
Action needed from you: Sign WIN's petition on change.org which will go to all legislators urging them to oppose this bill.

On March 15th, more than 1,000 Tennesseans raised our voices for workers' rights at the capitol. Your voice is needed again!

Fair raises for state higher education workers
This bill proposes a $2,000 flat dollar pay increase for all state higher education workers, who haven't had a raise in four years.
Latest update: While this bill is unlikely to be acted on, Gov. Haslam has proposed a 1.6% pay increase for state workers. It's important that this cost of living increase be distributed in a fair manner that benefits low wage workers the most. We are urging University of Memphis President Shirley Raines to distribute the raise as an equal dollar amount because this will help low-wage workers' paychecks the most.
Action needed from you: Call President Raines' office at 901-678-2234. Tell her that you are a community member who wants to see all University of Memphis workers earn a living wage. Ask her to take the first step toward the living wage by implementing an equal dollar cost of living increase for all employees.



Repeal of Memphis and Shelby County living wage ordinances
Good news! This bill, which would have invalidated large parts of the living wage ordinances you worked so hard to get passed, has been sent to summer study committee.
Latest update: Bills are often sent to summer study when there is not enough support to pass them. WIN will be monitoring the study committee, but it may be that the bill is not even brought up for discussion over the summer.
Action needed from you: Give yourself a round of applause for stopping this misguided bill that would have lowered workers' wages!

Anti-immigrant Arizona copycat bill
This bill requires that when police have "reasonable suspicion" that a person does not have legal immigration status, that law enforcement verify the person's immigration status. It will undoubtedly lead to racial profiling, and the fiscal note on the bill estimates state and local governments will have to spent nearly $5 million the first year alone to implement the bill.
Latest update: In the House, the bill has been delayed a couple of times in the Finance subcommittee. In the Senate, the Judiciary committee will not consider the bill until their last meeting of the session (probably 2 - 3 weeks from now.) This could be a sign that support for the bill is weakening.
Action needed from you: Our friends at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition have a petition you can sign in opposition to this bill and other anti-immigrant bills.

Special access to discriminate act
This bill prohibits local governments in Tennessee from telling their contractors not to discriminate against workers because of their sexual orientation. If passed, it will overturn an ordinance just passed a few weeks ago in Nashville which bars discrimination by contractors of Metro Government. All people have the right to work, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Latest update: This bill has passed the House. The Senate State and Local Government was supposed to hear the bill this week, but has delayed it one week.
Action needed from you: Call Sen. Mark Norris, who sits on the State and Local Government committee at (615) 741-1967. Urge him to vote no on SB 632 because it takes away control that local governments should have over their own contracting process.



Want to take action with workers seeking justice? Sign up for email action alerts from Workers Interfaith Network at http://www.workersinterfaithnetwork.org/index/involved/subscribe.htm

A Litany for Tennessee's Workers

   Yesterday I saw the inspiring sight of 1,000 Tennesseans rallying together for good jobs, living wages, and an end to the attack on workers rights.

  I wanted to share with you the litany for workers that Rev. Renee Dillard (St. John's United Methodist, Memphis) and Dr. Herbert Lester (Blakemore United Methodist, Nashville) shared with the crowd. You may want to pray it yourself or share it with your congregation. Now is a critical time for people of faith to both pray and act with workers whose rights are being eroded by our state legislature.

Leader 1: Scripture tells us that whenever workers are abused, God hears their cries for justice.

Leader 2: From ancient times through today, our God breaks the chains of oppression and brings good news to the poor.

Leader 1: When the state of Tennessee pays some workers so little that they remain trapped in poverty,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 2: When legislators threaten workers' livelihoods by repealing the living wage and upholding discrimination,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 1: When laws are proposed that would silence teachers' voices,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 2: When those in power try to push working people out of the political process,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 1: When the unemployed search long and hard for jobs that have been promised but not delivered,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 2: When leaders demand sacrifices only from the people who cannot afford to make them,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 1: When immigrant workers are blamed for an unemployment crisis that they did not cause,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 2: God's justice compels us to speak and act for the good of everyone in our communities, not just a few, because we know that

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 1: Despite the many forces we face against us, we stand, in trust and confidence, because here and in every place,

All: God hears the cries of workers.

Leader 2: Thanks be to God! Amen.

Want to take action with workers seeking justice? Sign up for email action alerts from Workers Interfaith Network at http://www.workersinterfaithnetwork.org/index/involved/subscribe.htm

Legislators trying to repeal living wage ordinances you won

   You gave countless hours of your time and donated countless dollars of your hard-earned money to make sure the Memphis and Shelby County living wage ordinances passed.

   Now state legislators who don't have a clue about working poverty are trying to repeal the laws you got passed locally.

   We've defeated these kinds of proposals in past legislatures. But make no mistake about it, this will be our toughest battle yet. And I need every one of you to take action to make sure that no worker has to face up to a 43 percent pay cut in this tough economy.

WIN members celebrate the passage of the City's living wage ordinance in 2006.

   The Memphis City Council passed its living wage ordinance in 2006, after years of your activism. It makes sure that the City of Memphis only contracts with businesses that pay living wages.

   After all, why should our City government give away our tax dollars to companies that create poverty jobs? Memphis certainly has enough of those already. In 2007, the Shelby County Commission also passed a living wage ordinance for its contractors.

   These ordinances are a great success. Workers are able to move out of poverty and meet their most basic needs. Neither the City or County has had problems with attracting qualified contractors. In fact, the City Council even expanded its living wage ordinance in 2008 to include the contractors of Memphis Light, Gas, and Water.

    So why are Rep. Glen Casada and Sen. Ketron trying to destroy these laws that are working just fine for Memphis and Shelby County government? They claim that it's just too confusing for companies to have living wage standards to keep up with in some situations and not in others. 

    Do they really expect you to believe that businesses that have to fill out the numerous records involved in becoming a city contractor can't keep up with two different pay rates? For all their talk about protecting businesses, Casada and Ketron must not think businesspeople are very smart.

   And Ketron and Casada must think that Memphis and Shelby County are not capable of running their own governments. The last time I checked, determining who gets local government contracts, and for what reasons, should be decided at the local level. 

   So, what's our plan for action? What can you do to protect the living wage and all the workers who depend on it for survival?

• Sign up for Lobby Day on Tuesday, March 15th in Nashville. We're also joining a big rally for workers' rights at noon on the Capitol Steps South that day. There will be buses coming in to Nashville from several cities.
• If you don't already get WIN's email alerts, sign up now. Bills can move extremely quickly through the legislature, and email is the best way to get alerts about calls that must be made right away.
• Make a gift to Workers Interfaith Network. This will be our toughest struggle yet to protect the living wage, and every dollar will help in the fight.  

   Is it discouraging to have to face legislators from outside Shelby County every year who try to undo the good work we've done? Yes.

   But I find encouragement and hope in Psalm 140:12, which tells us "I know that the Lord maintains the cause of the needy, and executives justice for the poor." May we do the same ourselves.

Want to take action with workers seeking justice? Sign up for email action alerts from Workers Interfaith Network.

Stand up for workers on Lobby Day

In 2004, WIN members like Rev. Jeff Irwin (left) held a lobby day to successfully stop a bill that would have killed our local living wage laws.

   I hope that you'll consider signing up to join the statewide Lobby Day for Living Wages and Good Jobs on March 15th in Nashville. As I wrote yesterday, there are many important worker rights bills - both good and terrible - that state legislators are considering this session. Now is the time to raise your voice!

   If you're not able to join us in Nashville, you can still speak up with workers as state legislators consider critical bills affecting their rights. Just sign up for WIN's email updates, so you'll know the best times to contact legislators about important bills.

    The Tennessee legislature began meeting yesterday and will wrap up in May, so the winter and spring are key times for you to advocate for workers' rights.

   This legislative session could present University workers with the opportunity for a fair raise, after three years of pay freezes. Advocates must also be prepared to defend workers' rights as legislators introduce bills to take away workers' rights to have unions, and bills that encourage racial profiling of immigrant workers.

Why participate in Lobby Day?

    When someone wants to you to do something, an email might work. A phone call or a letter is more likely to get your attention. But what really gets you thinking about the other person's request is a face to face conversation, isn't it?

    It's the same way with our state legislators. The best way to make sure they hear - and respond - to your concerns about workers' rights is to meet with them in person. That's why WIN invites you to join us in Nashville on March 15th with people from all across Tennessee.

March 15th Lobby Day Schedule

    While some details of this schedule may change, the departure and arrival times from Memphis will not change.

5:30 a.m.                 Vans leave midtown Memphis for Nashville.
9:00 - 10 a.m.         Training and roleplays for legislative visits.
10:00 a.m. - noon    Visits to legislators in teams
Noon - 1 p.m.          Rally for living wages and good jobs on capitol steps.
1:00 - 1:45 p.m.      Lunch break (on your own)
1:45 - 3:00 p.m.      Visits to legislators in teams
3:00 p.m.                 Vans leave Nashville for Memphis
7:00 p.m.                Vans arrive in midtown Memphis


    We'll make sure you have all the training and talking points you need to meet with your legislators. The lunchtime rally will be an energizing time to join with people from all across Tennessee who believe our state can do better for workers. Won't you join us?

   Sign up to participate in the March 15th Lobby Day for Living Wages and Good Jobs!

State legislators prepare slew of anti-worker bills

Legislative session also presents opportunity for progress on

living wage for University workers

    The Tennessee Legislature begins its real work today, February 7th. Usually they wrap up their legislative session by mid-May. That means that the winter and spring are key times for you to advocate for workers' rights.

    University workers in Memphis and across the state have endured pay freezes for the past three years. As workloads have mounted and health insurance costs skyrocketed, low-wage workers have struggled to pay their bills.

   The budget passed by legislators could determine whether University workers move a significant step closer to a living wage. But the only way the state budget will include raises for low-wage University workers is if legislators hear from people like you.

  Your action will also be urgently needed to stop a number of anti-worker bills that have been introduced or are planned (legislators have just two weeks from today to introduce all bills for the session.)

   In the last legislative session (2009), a bill was narrowly defeated that would have repealed the local living wage ordinances you worked so hard to establish in Memphis and Shelby County. It is very likely this bill be introduced again this year.

   A number of proposed bills this year attack the rights of public employees, especially teachers, to have a union. One bill takes away teachers' unions ability to negotiate the terms of teachers' employment with boards of education. WIN members like you know that when workers have a voice in workplace decisions through their union, it creates a more stable, productive workplace.

   Worker rights and immigrant rights' advocates are also very concerned about promises by state Sen. Bill Ketron to introduce a state immigration bill similar to Arizon's controversial SB 1070. Such a law would allow local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law. It would likely lead to racial profiling of Latinos and anyone who police decide seems foreign-born. It could also give employers an incentive to call the police on workers who complain about wage theft or other abuses.

Take Action

1) If you don't get WIN's email action alerts already, sign up now. Once the legislature starts to move, bills can progress very quickly. I'll send you alerts when your urgent action is needed.

2) Tomorrow I'll be posting about how you can participate in the Lobby Day for Living Wages and Good Jobs on March 15th in Nashville.

Vigil for a living wage: Asking our legislators to do their part

At a forum on a living wage for University of Memphis workers held in October, Thelma Rimmer and Emma Davis, who are members of the United Campus Workers, shared how difficult it is to provide for their families on $8 an hour.

Vigil for a living wage:

Asking our legislators to do their part

Saturday, January 22nd at 1:00 p.m.

Wesley Foundation at the University of Memphis

3625 Midland Ave.

(see parking info at the end of this post)

This is an indoor vigil, so don't worry about bad weather!

    At the living wage forum held at the University in October, members of the United Campus Workers union shared how they have to juggle bills every month. University employees have faced wage freezes for the past three years, and this year the cost of family health insurance premiums that employees pay jumped 32 percent.

   While this is a difficult situation for any University staff or faculty member, for workers who make around $8 an hour, it's a crisis situation. President Raines and the rest of the administration at University of Memphis must make a living wage a priority as they make budgets.

   But it's not just the University administration that has an obligation to act for a living wage. The Tennessee Legislature also has a big impact on the wages that higher education workers earn. At our January 22nd vigil, we will be praying for the upcoming legislative session. State legislators will also be asked to share their plans to take action for a living wage.

We will urge our legislators from Shelby County to act for a living wage, especially by:

1) Enacting equitable pay raises for higher education employees. Workers' pay has been frozen for three years now. Any pay raises that the legislature passes should be done in a way that lessens poverty pay, and not in ways that grow pay inequality between the highest and lowest paid workers. Legislators should pass equal dollar pay raises instead of percentage raises.

.   What's the difference between these two types of raises, and why does it matter? Let's say the legislature voted to give all higher education employees a 3 percent raise. If you make $15,600 a year, as a number of janitorial workers do, your raise will only be $468. But if you are administrator who makes $100,000 a year, your raise will be $3,000. The gap between the lowest and highest paid employees will only continue to grow.

   An equal dollar raise (for example a $1,000 raise for all employees) makes the biggest difference to workers who are struggling to get by, and it keeps the pay gap from growing even bigger than it already is.

2) Rejecting any legislation that would overturn living wage and prevailing wage laws that Memphis and Shelby County have already passed. Last year, Tennessee House members narrowly rejected anti-living wage legislation. We expect that certain anti-worker legislators will introduce the legislation again this year. If passed, it would undo years of hard work that you did to get fair wages for workers on city and county contracts. Workers on these contracts could see steep pay cuts if the legislature bans local living wage laws.

For the January 22nd vigil to be a success, we need you! Please join us at 1:00 p.m. at the Wesley Foundation for this indoor prayer vigil.

There is limited parking behind the Wesley Foundation. St. Luke's United Methodist Church, which is located at 480 S. Highland, just two blocks west of the Wesley Foundation, has plentiful parking that you can use that day.