Living Wage: A New Battle in the War on Poverty

Fifty years after President Lyndon Johnson announced a War on Poverty in America, more than 46.5 million people in our country, about one out of every seven, still struggle to get enough to eat or have a place to live. The U.S. Census Bureau shows that for people of color, the poverty rate is even higher, with one out of every four people who are black or Latino living in poverty.

Programs like Medicare and Medicaid that were created to fight the War on Poverty have helped millions of people. Strengthening both of those programs continues to be a critical part of protecting families. But the battle plan for keeping families safe and secure also has to include another key element: a significantly higher minimum wage – an actual living wage.Continue reading “Living Wage: A New Battle in the War on Poverty”

2013 Reports

America’s Changing Economy 2013 Wage and Job Gap Study

http://thejobgap.org/national-report/

Reports by state: Connecticut, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New York City, Oregon, Virginia, Washington

Communities Under Attack: Pushing Back Against the Criminalization of Everyday Life.

Alliance.for_.a.Just_.Society_Pushing-Back_FINAL.pdf

Wasted Wealth – Racial Inequity in the Foreclosure Crisis

Bad Medicine: Pharmaceutical’s Prescription for Profits Over People

https://www.allianceforajustsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Bad.Medicine.Report.Alliance2013.pdf

The Maine Partnership Bank

Survival Denied: Stories from Alaska Native Families Living in a Broken System

https://www.allianceforajustsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Survival-Denied2.pdf

Hooked on Pharma – Get Pharma’s Hooks Out of Congress

Broken Bootstraps: Falling Behind on Full-Time Work

2012 Wage and Job Gap Report

Past Due: Predatory Lending in Idaho

https://www.allianceforajustsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2013.01.07_Idaho-Payday-Lending-Report-FINAL1.pdf

King County Living Wage December 2013 report

King.County.WA_2013 wage report

New York Must Do More to Address Health Disparities

Building on New York State’s success in enrolling nearly a million New Yorkers in health insurance, a new report makes recommendations on how to continue improving health care by aggressively addressing health disparities in the coming years.

New York State of Health, the new health insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is off to a good start addressing health disparities. However, much more needs to be done quickly – within the next few years – says a “white paper” released today by the Public Policy and Education Fund of New York, Make the Road New York and the Alliance for a Just Society.

“One million people enrolled is an extraordinary accomplishment,” said Bob Cohen, PPEF Policy Director and one of the report co-authors. “However, given that almost 60 percent of those without insurance are non-white, we need to build consensus on an action plan to assure that the needs of those traditionally shut out of the health insurance marketplace are met.”

The report, “Addressing Health Disparities Through the Marketplace: An Action Agenda for New York State of Health,” applauds NYSOH for steps it has already taken to reduce disparities, then outlines distinct actions to further develop the strategy.

Read the full report here: https://www.allianceforajustsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/2014-06_Addressing-Health-Disparities-Through-the-Marketplace-Print.pdf

Changes in Rules Mean Big Wins for the Alliance

Conservative intransigence — on issues as wide-ranging as appointing a permanent nominee for the Federal Housing and Finance Authority (FHFA) to implementing key components of the Dodd Frank Financial Reform law — prompted Sen. Harry Reid and Senate Democrats to change the Senate rules around cloture.

Previously requiring a threshold of 60 to proceed with nominations, Reid and Co. lowered the threshold to a simple majority. This will allow several campaigns that the Alliance and our affiliates have been working on to finally reach completion.Continue reading “Changes in Rules Mean Big Wins for the Alliance”

2013 Job Gap Coverage

Please check back periodically for recent coverage on our 15th annual Job Gap Report, “America’s Changing Economy: Searching for Work that Pays in the New Low-Wage Economy.”

Living wage job gap calls for charting a new course for U.S. economy
December 11, 2013, The Hill

Why A ‘Living’ Wage Doesn’t Add Up
December 9, 2013, NPR, Tell Me More

Telling Fast Food Workers To ‘Get A Better Job’ Is Nonsense, In 1 Chart
December 11, 2013, Huffington Post

Why it’s not so easy to move from a minimum-wage job
December 11, 2013, CBS News

Continue reading “2013 Job Gap Coverage”

2013 Job Gap Report Released Nationwide

Fast food workers are taking to the picket line throughout the country. SEIU and other unions are helping these efforts, but many strikes are happening in places without any union presence. Low-wage work is simply not enough for families and individuals to thrive, to plan for their future, and most times, simply not enough to live.

Underemployment, ‘overemployment’ (working more than1 job) and the threats to public benefits in D.C. and in many states is adding more weight atop many populations tracked into low-wage employment. The trend is troubling.

“America’s Changing Economy: Searching for Work that Pays in the New Low-Wage Job Market, is the 15th installment of the Alliance’s Job Gap Report. It has grown from a Northwest regional perspective and this year marks our first national report. True to the Alliance’s mission and focus, we released the report in 9 affiliated states and in NYC. You can find ways to get involved, graphics to share and all the reports at:

www.thejobgap.org

And download the national report here: http://thejobgap.org/national-report/

Continue reading “2013 Job Gap Report Released Nationwide”

Sins of Omission Hurt Workers of Color

The U.S. has made a dangerous shift to a low-wage economy where people of color disproportionately hold low-wage jobs. Coupled with an expanding Job Gap in many states, Jobs created by infrastructure investments generally pay relatively well and are accessible to individuals without a college education. Adhering to federal contracting rules and can ensure an increase in the number of living wage jobs available for everybody.

Building highways, bridges, and tunnels creates jobs– good jobs– jobs that put food on the table, and money in the pockets of those who desperately need it. Continue reading “Sins of Omission Hurt Workers of Color”

Sins of Omission Hurt Workers of Color

The Realpolitics of Baker, Montana: Grassroots and Integrity Move the Local Elections

By Sheena Rice, Montana Organizing Project. (posted by David Fleishman)

Depending on whom you ask, Baker Montana is either in the middle of nowhere or in the middle of the everything. Although for the answer to be the latter, you would need to be asking someone from Baker. A community of 1,800, Baker is an small rural community in far eastern Montana; 200 miles away from Billings, Rapid City, South Dakota and Bismarck, North Dakota. And it’s an oil town.
Bordering the booming Bakken oil region, and with some of the oldest oil wells in Montana, Baker is a town very familiar with the boom and busts of oil and gas development. Politically, Baker is unmistakably conservative, due in part to the number of residents employed in oil and gas and its isolation from urban centers. It is a community that has to take care of itself, as it tends to be an afterthought in decisions made at the state capitol in Helena (461 miles away).
With this in mind, it would be easy to assume that the community would elect those that fit into the conservative mold and that coddle the oil and gas industry. That’s the problem with assumptions.

Meet Alderman and Montana Organizing Project Board Member, Brandon Schmidt. Continue reading “The Realpolitics of Baker, Montana: Grassroots and Integrity Move the Local Elections”