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Memphis and Shelby County Living Wage Campaigns
Thousands
of Memphis workers are not able to meet their families' basic
needs
for shelter, food, transportation, and health care on their wages alone.
Despite working hard, they are forced to rely on public assistance, charitable
help, or second and third jobs in order to make ends meet. Without a living
wage, they face uncertainty about how they will care for themselves and their
children.
The
Memphis and Shelby County living wage campaigns were responses to
millions of our taxpayer dollars
being given to companies that pay poverty wages.
These campaigns
are
coalition efforts of 42 local congregations and faith
groups,
community organizations, and labor unions that believe no one should work full-time
and still be poor at the end of the day,
especially when their employer is subsidized by citizens.
The Living Wage Campaign successfully called on the Memphis City Council and
the
Shelby County Commission to stop
subsidizing poverty, and to pass an ordinance that
requires businesses receiving significant city contracts
and tax freezes, as well as the
City of Memphis and Shelby County governments themselves, to pay their workers a living
wage of $10 per hour
with health insurance or $12 per hour without insurance.
Victories
Memphis City Council Expands Living Wage Coverage
NEW!
Shelby County Commission Passes Living Wage Ordinance
Congress Passes Minimum Wage Increase
Council passes
living wage for temporary City workers
Council passes living wage ordinance for city contract workers
Council ties tax breaks to living wage requirement
Events
King Living Wage Commemoration
Memphis
Living Wage Celebration Pictures!
Results of the Living Wage Town Hall Meetings
Letter to City Council From Local Clergy
About Living Wage Fast
Memphians Deliver 5,000 Living Wage Petitions to the City
Council
Pictures of
Mother's Day 2004 Living Wage Rally
Background
Questions and answers about the living
wage
(including which workers are covered)
What does the research say about living wage?
Living wage facts
Press
Coverage
Living Wage Advocates Rally (Commercial Appeal March 13, 2008)
Panel OK's Living Wage (Commercial Appeal 5-22-2007)
Memphis Contractors Must Pay 'Living Wage' (Commercial Appeal
11-22-06)
Kudos to Council on Living Wages (Commercial Appeal 9/3/06)
Abundant Faith Doesn't Pay Poverty Wages (Commercial Appeal 9-3-06)
Decision Near on Living Wage (Commercial Appeal Editorial 8-15-06)
Interfaith Network Calls for 40-hour Fast for Living Wage (Memphis Conference 3-24-06)
'Living Wage' Law (Commercial Appeal 7-24-05)
Memphis Flyer Story on 2004 Defeat on Anti-Living Wage Bill
(4/20/04)
CA opinion
editorial by Rev. Rebekah Jordan on living wage (1/22/04)
CA story about the Conner family, struggling to make ends meet
(1/26/03)
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