Tag Archives: living wage

Labor Coalition working with Fight for 15 Florida

by Sheila Payne Alachua County Labor Coalition

The Alachua County Labor Coalition (ACLC) has been working with Fight for 15 Florida to visit with and sign up fast food workers in Alachua County the last 2 months in addition to the ACLC Living Wage Campaign. We need folks willing to join us in both of these campaigns. The fast food workers are very eager to learn that Fight for 15 has come to their community, and we have visited over 50 fast-food restaurants locally with the Fight for 15 state-wide organizers providing the initial training.

We had a well-attended meeting in September where about a dozen fast-food, child-care and health care workers from the Tampa/St. Pete area joined twenty labor coalition and local community members to provide testimony about the gains they have made there in the Fight for 15. They spoke of one-day strikes, fighting for better pay, for better working conditions and being treated with dignity and as a valued employee.

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A livable wage campaign for Alachua County

by Sheila Payne, Alachua County Labor Coalition

The Alachua County Labor Coalition is forging ahead with the first leg of its Livable Wage Campaign in Alachua County. We are speaking to many groups, congregations, unions, businesses and individuals to educate our community about the need for a higher minimum wage in Alachua County, a livable wage.

Over 25 organizations including Veterans for Peace, The Sierra Club, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1205 have endorsed the campaign so far to lift low wage workers over the poverty line. If you would like one of our crackerjack speakers to come speak to your organization, please contact us. We welcome the involvement of the whole community in this effort, which will not only raise the wages of our target businesses, but the wages of the whole community. As wages rise in certain sectors of a community, all wages rise as businesses compete for workers.

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A proposal for a livable wage for Alachua County workers

by the alachua county labor coalition

Throughout the nation, a movement has been fomenting around the need for a living wage. Thousands of workers have gone on strike, politicians have stumped, and large companies such as McDonalds and Walmart have given token raises; but little has been done in Florida to make a living wage a reality. In Alachua County, a coalition of religious organizations, businesses, labor unions, and economic justice activists have come together to make a tangible change for Alachua County workers. Our ambitious goal is to have the 10 largest employers in the County pay a Living Wage by 2020. We aim to enforce Article X, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution, which is currently being scorned by many of our elected officials.

All working Floridians are entitled to be paid a minimum wage that is sufficient to provide a decent and healthy life for them and their families, that protects their employers from unfair low-wage competition, and that does not force them to rely on taxpayer-funded public services in order to avoid economic hardship.

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June 2015 Gainesville Iguana

june 15 iguana coverThe June 2015 issue of the Gainesville Iguana is now available online, and it’s got lots of good stuff (Bernie Sanders, an oral history interview with David Barsamian, a Florida Legislative update from FL NOW, a Sleep Creek Lands/Adena Springs report, and more!). You can also pick the issue up at any of our distribution spots, which you can find here.