2009 January's Action of the Month: Living Wage Days are Here!
Join Let Justice Roll National Campaign for $10 in 2010 Federal Minimum Wage
"Rewarding an honest day's labor with a just living wage is the right thing to do, and advocating for fair compensation is our religious duty."
—Rev. William G. Sinkford,
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) President
UUA President Joins UU Church of Nashua's Living Wage Sunday: Rev. William G. Sinkford, president of the UUA, preached at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua, NH, for their Living Wage Service on January 25, 2009.
See Unitarian Universalist Congregations Support Living Wage Days to learn about what other congregations are doing!
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee are members of the interfaith Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, a nonpartisan coalition of more than 90 faith, community, labor and business organizations. Let Justice Roll played a lead role in winning the current federal increase of $6.55 per hour (the first raise in ten years) that will be raised to $7.25 per hour in 2009. Even after the minimum wage rises to $7.25 in July 2009, it will be far below the minimum wage of 1968. Let Justice Roll Living Wage Campaign, has launched the "$10 in 2010" campaign to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 an hour in 2010.
On January 10 and 11, 2009, Let Justice Roll will again sponsor Living Wage Days services and community events throughout the country to remind our elected officials that the work of wage justice is not over, it is just beginning.
In hard economic times it is more important than ever for people of faith to stand with low-wage workers and their families.
Let us remember the minimum wage was not enacted during good times, but during the extremely hard times of the Great Depression. When the federal minimum wage was established in 1938, the unemployment rate was a very high 19 percent. President Roosevelt saw the minimum wage as "an essential part of economic recovery." It would put a floor under workers wages, alleviate the hardship of inadequate wages, and stimulate the economy and job creation by increasing consumer purchasing power.
At the Unitarian Universalist Association 2008 General Assembly, delegates adopted an Action of Immediate Witness supporting the $10 in '10 Campaign and called on Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregations to join the Living Wage Campaign.
Unitarian Universalists have been involved in supporting a fair minimum wage since the year of our inception in 1961, when we passed a resolution in support of an agricultural minimum wage for migrant workers. Ours has been a sustained commitment; the 1961 resolution was followed by over three dozen social justice statements in support of economic justice.
Hundreds of congregations from various faith traditions held services in 2006, including a flagship event with the legislation's sponsor Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, at United First Parish UU in Quincy, MA. Over 1,000 faith leaders signed a Letter to Congress urging them to raise the minimum wage. Let’s build on our successes!
Take Action
- Hold a Living Wage Worship Service or Community Event
- Please Sign Up for Living Wage Days
- Sign & Gather Signatures for Faith Leaders, General Public & Business Leaders Letter to Congress for Delivery to the New Congress in 2009
- Make sure your congregation is or plans to be paying all employees at least $10 per hour by the end of 2010
Holding a Living Wage Service is a powerful way to inspire, educate and mobilize your congregation and/or community to support and act for raising the minimum wage to $10 in 2010. We invite you to reach out to everyone, including both workers and business people, in your congregations, organizations and communities to participate in Living Wage Days. Raising the minimum wage is good for workers, families, business, communities and our economy.
Testimonials from workers struggling to support themselves and their families on wages that do not respect their labor or dignity should be at the heart of your service or event. Followed by on the spot and ongoing advocacy efforts to gather signatures for Letters to Congress, these services and events can create transformative partnerships between low-income workers and families and your wider faith community or network. Offerings, collections and fundraising are also a sustaining part of putting your faith and values into action.
Resources
- New Living Wage Days Worship & Event Resource Guide (PDF, 71 pages) with worship resources, including a UU section, fact sheets; policy points; youth activities and more!
- UUA Living Wage Resources
- 2008 Action of Immediate Witness: Raise the Federal Minimum Wage to $10 in 2010
- Skinner Sermon Award Winner: Why No Living Wage? (PDF, 7 pages)
For more information contact socialjustice @ uua.org.
Last updated on Monday, July 13, 2009.
