Arbeitslosenselbsthilfe O l d e n b u r g
Kaiserstr. 19
D-26122 Oldenburg (Oldenburg)
Antwort in : /alt/activism/d Absender : CDFUPDATE@childrensdefense.org (CDFupdate CDFupdate) Betreff : CDF Update - August 14, 1998 Datum : So 16.08.98, 17:49 (erhalten: 19.08.98) Groesse : 5496 Bytes ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Children's Defense Fund Update August 14, 1998
In this issue: -- Minimum Wage -- CDF Update to Take an August Recess
MINIMUM WAGE --Lend Your Support to Increasing the Minimum Wage--
The Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage is seeking state or local organizations to join with them in supporting an increase in the minimum wage. Close to 150 national organizations, including the Children's Defense Fund, have already signed on as supporters.
Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Representative David Bonior (D-MI) are sponsors of bills that would raise the minimum wage by $1.00 over two years (to $6.15 an hour in the year 2000). Senator Kennedy is looking for an appropriate legislative vehicle to attach his increase proposal to in September, and a large list of organizational supporters from all over the country would be very helpful.
The Children's Defense Fund believes that raising the pay of America's low-wage workers is an essential part of a strategy to raise our children out of poverty. 69 percent of poor children in America live in a family where someone works, up from 61 percent just three years earlier, according to 1996 Census data. More parents are employed, but at jobs with below-poverty wages. Full-time, year-round work at the current $5.15 minimum wage still leaves a family of three at only 82 percent of the federal poverty line. While the $6.15 rate will not raise a family of three out of poverty, it continues the long-needed movement in the right direction. What we seek is simple and modest: to return to the value of the minimum wage of the 1960s and '70s, which did support a family above poverty.
Below is a letter from the co-chairs of the Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage seeking your organization's support. If your organization would like to be listed as a supporter, please reply to Jane O'Grady at the Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage: e-mail: adaction@ix.netcom.com; fax: (202) 785-5969; or mail to Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage, 1625 K Street, NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20006. Please include the organization's name, street address, city, state, and zip code, phone, fax, and e-mail listings, and a contact person's name.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Friend:
We would like to enlist your organization in a legislative campaign for a fair minimum wage. As you know, Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Cong. David Bonior (D-MI), supported by the Administration, have introduced bills in this Congress (S.1805 and H.R. 3510) which, when enacted, will increase the Federal minimum wage by $.50 on January 1, 1999 and, again, by $.50 on January 1, 2000.
The current federal minimum wage of $5.15 leaves a full-time worker more than $2,000 below the federally-established poverty standard for a family of three. Given the nation's low unemployment and inflation rates, we believe economic conditions could not be more favorable in which to deepen our commitment to a more equitable minimum wage.
The Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage is a coalition of policy and program oriented organizations advocating on behalf of this legislation. It is a successor to similar citizens' coalitions that have organized, successfully, around the minimum wage issue in the 1980's and early 1990's. We will be working in the coming months to educate the public and the Congress on the social and economic benefits of an increase in the Federal minimum wage.
Growing inequality in the distribution of income and wealth and persistent poverty pose a serious challenge to our society. It is a challenge which can be met in some measure by ensuring a gain and just wage floor for those workers in the lowest paying jobs. A prosperity which does not include everyone is a false foundation on which to build the economy of the 21st century.
If this is an issue of concern to your organization, we invite you to join with us and welcome your participation in the Campaign for a Fair Minimum Wage.
Sincerely,
John Sweeney, President, AFL-CIO Hugh Price, President, National Urban League Kweisi Mfume, President and CEO, NAACP Dorothy Height, Chairman of the Board, National Council of Negro Women Anita Perez-Ferguson, President, National Women's Political Caucus ---------------------------------------------------------------------
CDF UPDATE RECESS The CDF Update will take a short recess for the remainder of the month of August. Please look for the next issue on September 4, 1998. The House of Representatives resumes session on August 31st and the Senate will return on September 9th. Please use this opportunity to contact your Members of Congress while they are home in your state.
-- OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR NUMBERS -- PLEASE FORWARD THIS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE TO YOUR FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES!
Our typical e-mail is about a page or two long and is delivered once a week. To join the CDF Update list, sign-up on our Web site or send an e-mail to: Majordomo@automailer.com and write in the body of the message: subscribe cdfupdate <your e-mail address> PLEASE NOTE: WHEN SUBSCRIBING OR UNSUBSCRIBING, DO NOT SURROUND YOUR ADDRESS WITH BRACKETS.
Liz Rochlen Children's Defense Fund 25 E Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 202/662-3540 (fax) CDFupdate@childrensdefense.org www.childrensdefense.org
Index of Welfare-Workfare-State Archives
Last Modified: October 1998