$8.50 is not good enough! Standing up for a living minimum wage in Ithaca

$8.50 is not good enough!

March 12, 2012

Over 100 people gathered at "Bank Alley" in Ithaca to mark the end of the Labor-Religion Coaltion 40 hour fast, celebrate the victory of the "Bread and Roses" strikers, and call for raising the minimum wage to a wage a person could live on - $11.67/hr (with health insurance. Without is $12.78) according to Alternatives Credit Union in Ithaca.

The rally was sponsored by the Labor-Religion Coalition of the Finger Lakes, the Tompkins County Workers' Center, and the Mid-State Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Pastor Rich Rose of the First Baptist Church (and the 2011 recipient of the "Friend of Labor" award) led off the rally by blessing the bread, which was then distributed among the crowd. Speakers included local workers, representatives from Labor, the Tompkins County Workers' Center, the Labor-Regligion Coalition, living wage certified employers, and civic leaders.

Every year Alternatives Credit Union in Ithaca calculates a "Living Wage" for the area, which is then the basis to certify living wage employers in Tompkins County.   Among the speakers at the rally were several certified living wage employers, testifying to the reasons for and benefits to worker, employer, and community of paying living wages.

Speakers at the rally

Workers Neisha Butler and Bev Abplanalp

Leslie Finch, UAW Local 2300 VP and Benefits Liason

Baschki Leo, SEIU Organizer

Small business owners and Living Wage-Certified Employers Mandi Meidlinger of Jillian’s Drawers, and Joe Wetmore of Autumn Leaves Used Books

Student, Ian Schlom

County Legislator, Leslyn McBean-Clairborne

Pastor Rich Rose of the First Baptist Church of Ithaca

Pat Leary of the Town of Ithaca Board

Don Barber, former Living Wage Employer and Town of Caroline Supervisor

photos here

Story in Ithaca Journal here

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