LET
JUSTICE ROLL MOBILIZES VALUES VOTERS WITH HUNDREDS
OF MINIMUM WAGE EVENTS ACROSS U.S.
OCTOBER
"LIVING WAGE DAYS" Build Momentum For
Ballot Measures in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri,
Montana and Ohio
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- September 27, 2006
CONTACT: Dan Webster 212-870-2252, news@ncccusa.org
New
York City -- As Congress continues to stall
on raising the minimum wage, the national Let
Justice Roll Campaign will hold hundreds of rallies,
workshops, religious services and prayer breakfasts
in October to build support for raising the minimum
wage at the state and federal level.
Let
Justice Roll, a fast-growing nonpartisan partnership
of more than 80 faith and community groups, is
working to pass minimum wage ballot measures in
Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Montana and Ohio.
Let
Justice Roll played a leading role in recent state
minimum wage increases in Arkansas, Michigan,
North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia,
and helped win victories in California and Massachusetts.
Next year, Let Justice Roll will be leading campaigns
for legislative minimum wage increases in states
such as New Hampshire and Tennessee.
A
recent poll showed that nine out of ten Americans
support a higher minimum wage, but Congress has
not raised it in more than nine years. The minimum
wage has lost more than a fifth of its value since
the last increase in 1997 to $5.15 an hour, and
has less buying power than the minimum wage of
1950.
"We've
long seen scorecards from the Christian Coalition
and others show how members of Congress vote on
so-called social issues, but not on help for the
poor, which the Bible mandates hundreds of times.
But millions of ‘values voters’ care
about fair wages for the people who do some of
the hardest, most important jobs in our society
-- from childcare teachers we entrust with our
children to healthcare aides we entrust with our
parents," said the Rev. Bob Edgar, general
secretary of the National Council of Churches
USA, a leading member of Let Justice Roll.
"It's
a moral abomination they are paid a wage that
traps them in poverty," said Edgar, a former
six-term member of Congress and author of the
new book, "Middle Church: Reclaiming the
Moral Values of the Faithful Majority from the
Religious Right" (Simon & Schuster).
"Let
Justice Roll members know that talking about values
is no substitute for valuing hardworking men and
women all across this nation who need a higher
minimum wage," said Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry,
Let Justice Roll Campaign National Coordinator.
"The message of Living Wage Days is clear:
A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep
you in it," said Sherry, co-author of "A
Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business
and Our Future."
Many
Let Justice Roll "Living Wage Days"
events will take place on the weekends of October
7-8 and October 14-15. Among the states holding
events are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,
Massachusetts, Missouri, Minnesota, Montana, North
Carolina, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico,
Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia
and Washington. (See below for event highlights
in Ohio, Montana, Colorado and Arizona.)
Contrary
to minimum wage opponents’ assertions, states
that have raised their minimum wage above the
federal level have had better employment trends,
including among retail and small businesses, than
states that have not.
At
the federal level, the Let Justice Roll Campaign
is calling on Congress to raise the minimum wage
to at least $7.25 an hour and oppose measures
that would weaken existing minimum wage eligibility,
tipped worker coverage, overtime or other labor
protections, or link minimum wage to tax cuts
for the wealthy.
“The
contrasts are staggering," said Johanna Chao
Rittenburg, Let Justice Roll Steering Committee
member and program manager for economic justice
at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee.
"Forbes magazine announces that the 400 richest
Americans are now all billionaires after the Census
Bureau announced that median full-time pay is
down though productivity is up. Congressional
leaders are holding the minimum wage hostage to
a tax cut for wealthy heirs. Let Justice Roll
believes it is morally imperative that everyone
who works for a living earns a living wage,”
said Rittenburg, who is also co-editor of "Resources
for Living Wage Worship Services and Community
Events."
FOR
INTERVIEWS with Bob Edgar, Paul Sherry, Johanna
Chao Rittenburg or other Let Justice Roll representatives,
please contact Dan Webster at 212-870-2252 or
Betsy Leondar-Wright, 781-704-4039. Rev. Sherry
can also be reached directly by cell, 917-226-5301.
See below for direct contact information for states
with minimum wage on the ballot.
Living
Wage Days Resources available at www.letjusticeroll.org
include
- "Resources
for Living Wage Worship Services and Community
Events," a comprehensive Let Justice Roll
resource guide (available
in pdf format).
- "A
Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business
and Our Future," co-authored by Holly Sklar
and Rev. Paul Sherry, and produced by the American
Friends Service Committee and the National Council
of Churches USA. "A Just Minimum Wage"
is available
in pdf format at www.letjusticeroll.org.
For hard copies, contact Dan Webster at 212-870-2252
or email news@ncccusa.org.
###
SAMPLER
OF STATE EVENTS
OHIO: Hundreds of services and events will be
held across Ohio, including Akron, Athens, Cincinnati,
Cleveland, Columbus and Toledo.
Columbus, Oct. 5., the Rev. Dr. James Forbes,
longtime senior minister at Riverside Church,
New York City, will give the keynote at We Believe
Ohio "Get Out the Vote Rally for Justice,"
Congregation Tifereth Israel. Rev. Forbes wrote
the foreword to “A Just Minimum Wage."
MONTANA:
Missoula, Sept. 28, "Many Faiths, One Voice:
Missoulians for Wage Justice," with wisdom
from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and Native
American spiritual traditions, University Congregational
Church.
Missoula, Oct. 7, "Many Faiths, One Voice:
Rally for the Raise."
Helena, Oct. 21, statewide Progressive Clergy
Alliance conference on Let Justice Roll and state
and federal minimum wage.
COLORADO:
Lone Tree, Oct. 7, Johanna Chao Rittenburg, Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee program manager
for economic justice, leads workshop: "Could
you survive on $5.15/hr -- Faith activists for
a just minimum wage."
Denver, Oct 14, African-American Ministers Issues
Forum spotlighting minimum wage ballot initiative,
Macedonia Baptist Church.
ARIZONA:
Living Wage Days kicked off on Labor Day Weekend
with more than 50 congregations hosting Labor
in the Pulpit, a signature event of Let Justice
Roll member organization, Interfaith Worker Justice.
In October, Living Wage Days will feature numerous
events, including the multi-congregation Oct.
15 "Stand Up Against Poverty," sponsored
by Let Justice Roll member organization, WHEAT
(World Hunger Education, Advocacy & Training
Organization).
CONTACTS
FOR STATES WITH MINIMUM WAGE ON THE BALLOT
ARIZONA:
Rev. Trina Zelle, Lead Organizer, Let Justice
Roll Arizona/Interfaith Worker Justice
2510 S. Rural Road Suite 102, Tempe, AZ 85282
Phone: 480-522-4707
Email: tzelle@iwj.org
COLORADO:
Greg Rasheed, Colorado Let Justice Roll Coordinator
Colorado Progressive Coalition, 1600 Downing St.,
Suite 210, Denver, CO 80218
Phone: 303-866-0908, Cell: 720-436-3417
Email: unifics@hotmail.com
MISSOURI:
Rev. W. Audrey Hollis, Let Justice Roll Organizer/St.
Louis Area Jobs with Justice
2725 Clifton Ave St., Louis, MO 63137
Phone: 314-644-0466, x 12, Cell: 314-435-0414
Email: audrey@stl-jwj.org
MONTANA:
Kat Wright, Field Organizer, Raise Montana/Let
Justice Roll
P.O. Box 1902, Helena, MT 59624
Phone: 406-495-8683, Cell: 406-461-3366
Email: katwright@tmgcomm.net
OHIO:
Katy Heins, Lead Organizer, Let Justice Roll Ohio
215 E. 14th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Cell: 513-314-0074, Email: letjusticerollohio@yahoo.com
Additional
state contacts are available at http://www.letjusticeroll.org/stateminimumwagecampaigns-contacts.html.
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