Faith Leaders Call for Living Wage at Interfaith Gathering, March 13th
Forty years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came to Memphis to
support striking sanitation workers making poverty wages, he would be
shocked to see millions of Americans making poverty wages today. Faith
leaders from around the country will gather in Memphis, TN, on March 13
to continue Dr. King's work for living wages for all workers with an
event organized by the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign and the
Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice.
Dr. King
told striking sanitation workers in Memphis on March 18, 1968, "It is
criminal to have people working on a full-time basis at a full-time job
getting part-time income… We are tired of working our hands off and
laboring every day and not even making a wage adequate with daily basic
necessities of life." Dr. King said, "Now is the time to make an
adequate income a reality for all of God's children… Now is the time
for justice to roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty
stream."
- In 1968, Memphis sanitation workers at the bottom of the pay scale earned $10 an hour, adjusted for inflation.
- In 1968, workers earning the federal minimum wage made an inflation-adjusted $9.70.
- In 2008, forty years later, the federal minimum wage is 40 percent less, at $5.85.
"Talking about values is no substitute for valuing hardworking men and women who need a higher minimum wage," said Rev. Jennifer Kottler, Executive Director of the Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign.
"Workers should not have to choose between paying the rent and buying
food for their children. A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep
you in it."
"Forty years
after Martin Luther King traveled to Memphis to support striking
workers -- a trip that cost him his life -- many still work for the
city at poverty wages," said Rev. Rebekah Jordan, Executive Director of the Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice,
located in Memphis. "We must remember that city workers currently
living in poverty are paid with taxpayer dollars. Our faiths call on us
to ensure that all workers enjoy the fruits of their labor by earning a
living wage."
As Dr. King
said on March 18, 1966, "We know of no more crucial civil rights issue
facing Congress today than the need to increase the federal minimum
wage and extend its coverage. A living wage should be the right of all
working Americans."
MARCH 13 INTERFAITH CELEBRATION TO CONTINUE DR. KING'S WORK FOR LIVING WAGES:
7:00 pm at the historic Centenary United Methodist Church, which
organized support in 1968 for the Memphis sanitation workers. Located
at 584 E. McLemore Ave., Memphis, TN.
SPEAKERS: In addition to Rev. Kottler and Rev. Jordan, speakers include:
• Taylor Rogers, a striking sanitation worker who witnessed Dr. King's
"I've Been to the Mountaintop" Speech, the night before King's
assassination, and became President of the Memphis sanitation workers'
union, AFSCME Local 1733
• Rev. Steve Copley, President of Arkansas Interfaith and Chair of the Board, Let Justice Roll
• Adam Taylor, Senior Political Director at Sojourners/Call to Renewal
• Civil rights activist Joyce Miller, now Assistant General Secretary
for Justice and Human Rights at the American Friends Service Committee,
co-recipient of the 1947 Nobel Peace Prize
• Simon Greer, President & CEO of the Jewish Funds for Justice
• Dr. Herbert Lester, Pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church
The March 13 event will kick off a 24-hour Fast for the Living Wage in Memphis.
One in four workers in Memphis is paid less than a living wage.
Participants will be asked to contact their City Council members and
urge them to strengthen and expand coverage under the living wage
ordinance ($10 an hour with health insurance and $12 without insurance)
passed in 2006.
Faith
groups represented on March 13 will include Baptist, United Methodist,
Christian Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal,
Episcopalian, United Church of Christ, Presbyterian (USA), Disciples of
Christ, Reform Jewish, Conservative Jewish, Unitarian, Roman Catholic
and Quaker.
VIDEO of the Interfaith Celebration to Continue Dr. King's Work for Living Wages will be available at a later date at www.letjusticeroll.org and on YouTube.
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About Let Justice Roll: The
Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign is a nonpartisan coalition of
more than 90 faith, community, labor and business organizations
committed to raising the minimum wage to a living wage. Since 2005, Let
Justice Roll has helped raise state minimum wages in 17 states and
played a key role in raising the federal minimum wage for the first
time in a decade. Let Justice Roll is currently organizing in states
such as Georgia, Kansas, Ohio, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
About the Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice: The
Mid-South Interfaith Network for Economic Justice is a coalition of
members of the faith community who seek justice in the workplace. Our
mission is to partner with people of faith in order to improve wages,
benefits and working conditions for the hard-working people of the
Mid-South, especially those who earn low wages.
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