Tompkins County Workers’ Center http://www.tcworkerscenter.org Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:05:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 40-Hour Fast for Worker Justice, the 100 Year Anniversary of the Bread and Roses Strike in Lawrence, MA, and Increasing the NYS Minimum Wage to a Living Wage http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/02/40-hour-fast-for-worker-justice-the-100-year-anniversary-of-the-bread-and-roses-strike-in-lawrence-ma-and-increasing-the-nys-minimum-wage-to-a-living-wage/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/02/40-hour-fast-for-worker-justice-the-100-year-anniversary-of-the-bread-and-roses-strike-in-lawrence-ma-and-increasing-the-nys-minimum-wage-to-a-living-wage/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:05:02 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1263 Join us, the Tompkins County Workers’ Center and the Labor-Religion Coalition of the Finger Lakes, for the 17th Annual 40-Hour Fast, as sponsored by the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, to occur this year between Saturday, March 10th, and Monday, March 12th.

We’ll kick off the Fast at the Tompkins County Workers’ Center Quarterly Membership potluck on Saturday March 10, 5:30-7:30pm at the Women’s Community Building, located at the corner of Seneca and Cayuga Sts. in Ithaca. We’ll close the fast with a Rally for the Minimum Wage campaign on Monday March 12, 4:30 pm in Bank Alley, corners of Seneca and Tioga Streets, in Ithaca.

Film and discussion on the Bread and Roses strike that took place in Lawrence, MA 100 years ago as well as ramping up towards a NYS minimum wage campaign that advocates for a new minimum wage that is a Living Wage!

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/02/40-hour-fast-for-worker-justice-the-100-year-anniversary-of-the-bread-and-roses-strike-in-lawrence-ma-and-increasing-the-nys-minimum-wage-to-a-living-wage/feed/ 0 Three Tompkins County Businesses Newly Living Wage-Certified http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/02/three-tompkins-county-businesses-newly-living-wage-certified/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/02/three-tompkins-county-businesses-newly-living-wage-certified/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:53:57 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1262 The Tompkins County Workers’ Center is pleased to announce that we now have 75 Certified Living Wage Employers, having just added the following:

· Mama Goose and Mimi’s Attic both located at 430 W. State/MLK Street, Ithaca;
· Aigen Financial Group, LLC, 202 E. State/MLK Street, Ithaca;
· Red Feet Wine Market and Spirit Provisions, 435 Franklin Street, Ithaca.

The three new Living Wage-Certified Employers employ a total of approximately 30 workers; this brings the total of workers, countywide, who are working for Living Wage Employers up to approximately 1,650.

The Workers’ Center initiated the Living Wage Employer Certification Program in 2006 to publicly recognize and reward those employers who pay a Living Wage, as defined by Alternatives Federal Credit Union. Any employer in the private, public, and non-profit sectors is eligible to apply. With your help, we can provide incentives for other employers in our community! Please go to http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/community/certified-employers/ to find out which employers are Living Wage-Certified, as well as to download criteria and an application form.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/02/three-tompkins-county-businesses-newly-living-wage-certified/feed/ 0 Responding to NYS Assembly Speaker Silver’s Call for a Minimum Wage of $8.50/hour, the Tompkins County Workers’ Center Calls for a Minimum Wage That Is a Living Wage! http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/01/responding-to-nys-assembly-speaker-silvers-call-for-a-minimum-wage-of-8-50hour-the-tompkins-county-workers-center-calls-for-a-minimum-wage-that-is-a-living-wage/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/01/responding-to-nys-assembly-speaker-silvers-call-for-a-minimum-wage-of-8-50hour-the-tompkins-county-workers-center-calls-for-a-minimum-wage-that-is-a-living-wage/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:12:55 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1261 The Tompkins County Workers’ Center (TCWC) agrees with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and other lawmakers in Albany that the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour cannot cover the basic needs of workers in New York. However, the minimum wage proposed by Speaker Silver, $8.50 an hour, is not enough of a change: it is time to embrace a Living Wage as the Minimum Wage.

The TCWC, originally called the Living Wage Coalition, proposes that the Minimum Wage be raised to $12.78/hour. $12.78 an hour is the Living Wage that is calculated biannually by Alternatives Federal Credit Union in Ithaca as the amount that a single person working 40 hours per week, without health insurance, needs to make in order to provide their basic human needs without accessing governmental services.

Raising the minimum wage to a Living Wage would meaningfully stimulate the economy; lower-earning workers spend their increased wages on necessary goods and services, thereby creating more jobs. Such workers would pay down their debts more successfully and pay increased taxes benefitting state and local government.

Says TCWC Community Organizer, Linda Holzbaur: “I ask you to really put yourself in the shoes of the full time worker with a family to support, living on $8.50 an hour. How could you possibly make ends meet? Anything less than a Living Wage in a wealthy society such as ours is simply unconscionable.”

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/01/responding-to-nys-assembly-speaker-silvers-call-for-a-minimum-wage-of-8-50hour-the-tompkins-county-workers-center-calls-for-a-minimum-wage-that-is-a-living-wage/feed/ 0 Raise New York’s Minimum Wage http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/01/raise-new-yorks-minimum-wage/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/01/raise-new-yorks-minimum-wage/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:28:29 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1259 How much money does it take to live in Tompkins County, with its high rents, heating bills and gas prices? Could you live securely on NYS’s minimum wage, $7.25 an hour? A movement is growing across the state to raise that minimum wage; The Tompkins County Workers’ Center is part of that movement. Will you join us?

Raise N.Y.’s minimum wage
By Dan Cantor AND Camille Rivera, Commentary

Imagine what it would be like to live on $300 per week.
That’s just about what nearly 700,000 New York state workers earn, according to the federal Census Bureau. That’s 8 percent of the statewide workforce.

More than a million minimum wage and near-minimum wage workers got raises on Jan. 1 that will help struggling families put food on the table, keep the heat on through the winter, and make ends meet.
None of those families live in New York, however.

The workers who will benefit from a little extra money in their pockets live in the eight states that have chosen to adjust their minimum wage rate annually to meet the rising cost of living. In states as disparate as Florida and Montana, Arizona and Vermont, minimum wage workers will get raises of up to 37 cents an hour, or $770 a year for full-time work. It doesn’t sound like much, but for a family relying on low-wage jobs, it could be a month’s rent.

New Yorkers deserve no less. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver deserves tremendous credit for announcing his support for raising the minimum wage at Wednesday’s State of the State speech. Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the rest of the Legislature should act quickly to raise the minimum wage and tie it to inflation to jump-start the Main Street economy.

These modest pay increases for low-wage workers have the potential to boost the local economies where the workers live. When low-wage workers have a little money in their pockets, they spend it on necessities — from winter clothes to school supplies to car repairs.
Boosting spending is precisely what we need to help get our economy moving. According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the increased spending resulting from the minimum-wage bumps in those eight states alone will lead to an additional $366 million in economic output and create 3,000 jobs.

Not here. More than 1.6 million New York workers — 18 percent of the workforce — earn less than $10 an hour, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute. These New Yorkers are falling further behind, as the minimum wage is eroded every year by the rising cost of food, gas, rent and, it seems, everything else.

It makes life a little tougher for our state’s lowest earners and drags consumer spending down with it. During the past 40 years, the minimum wage has eroded considerably. If the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation since the 1960s, it would be more than $10 an hour today.

Our state Legislature hasn’t voted to raise the minimum wage since 2004. As a result, New York’s minimum wage is stuck at the federal minimum wage of just $7.25 an hour — around $15,000 a year for full-time work. It’s tough enough to make ends meet on $15,000 a year in Oklahoma or West Virginia, never mind in Albany or Brooklyn. That’s well below the poverty line for a family of three.
Imagine trying to support a family on that, especially in a high-cost state like ours. Eighteen states have a higher minimum wage.

Declining wages still mean bigger profits for mega-corporations. The largest employers of low-wage workers in America (including Wal-Mart and McDonald’s) are all reporting larger profits, dividends and cash stockpiles than before the recession.

Corporate lobbyists, especially those representing fast food and retail companies, will ruthlessly oppose any increase in the minimum wage. They always do.

Let’s get the facts straight: As a share of GDP, wages and salaries are the lowest they’ve been since the 1950s, and corporate profits are at their highest.

It’s time to rebalance the scales. It’s time for New York to raise and index the minimum wage.

Dan Cantor is the executive director of the Working Families Party. Camille Rivera is the executive director of United NY.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2012/01/raise-new-yorks-minimum-wage/feed/ 0 WE NEED YOUR HELP! ‘Wage Theft’ Days of Action http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/11/we-need-your-help-wage-theft-days-of-action/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/11/we-need-your-help-wage-theft-days-of-action/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:41:58 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1257 (ITHACA) The Tompkins County Workers’ Center and the Labor-Religion Coalition of the Finger Lakes has answered the call from Interfaith Worker Justice to participate in its National Wage Theft Days of Action, helping to create a more just workplace, locally, and throughout the State of New York. We invite our members and supporters of the ‘Community Union’ to participate in this new campaign

How does our National Wage Theft Days of Action campaign work? The idea is for you to connect with workers in establishments where you shop, where you eat, where you buy anything, where you visit loved ones. We have a simple brochure for you to give out: The 8 1/2 by 11 sheet, folded in four ways, educates workers in the following areas:

–what the laws are regarding wages for all workers, including restaurant workers;
–lets workers know who to contact to get support, referrals, assistance, and organizing possibilities either at the Tompkins County Workers’ Center or other agencies;
–detailed information about the Wage Theft Prevention Act, the nation’s strongest Wage Theft law, in effect in NY as of 4/11;
–a sample time sheet to encourage workers to keep track of their hours and pay information rather than relying solely on their employer to do so.

The National Wage Theft Days of Action augments our ongoing work with the Workers’ Rights Hotline, which helps workers with every and any issue of contention in the workplace. We connect with close to 300 people a year, and have won judgments in favor of workers for approximately $1.125 million. We believe that handing out a Workers’ Rights brochure to service and retail workers where we go, wherever we shop, is a great way to inform workers of their rights and to encourage them to do something about it. Get Up, Stand Up!

We encourage you to consider being a part of this ongoing campaign by clicking on the following link, making copies, and taking them with you wherever you get service and/or purchase anything. If you would like, the Tompkins County Workers’ Center will send you as many copies of the brochure as you thnk you need.

https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4023/c/200/images/Wage Theft.Workers Rights Flyer.pdf

If you are willing to be a part of this campaign, please contact us either by responding to this email or by calling our office at 607-269-0409. If you live in another part of the state, please feel free to transpose your own information into the flyer, or go ahead and use ours.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/11/we-need-your-help-wage-theft-days-of-action/feed/ 0 What Does the ‘Occupy’ Movement Mean for All of Us? http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/what-does-the-occupy-movement-mean-for-all-of-us/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/what-does-the-occupy-movement-mean-for-all-of-us/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:04:49 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1255 From Wednesday, 10/20 edition of the Ithaca Journal.
After hearing about the Occupy Wall Street protests in Manhattan, we were intrigued about what the protests mean in terms of the issues that are of driving concern to us: issues of economic and social inequality that we witness on a daily basis in Tompkins County and Central New York. Issues resulting from the ways in which power is doled out to those who can game the system simply because of their own economic privilege. As a result, we decided to do an informal fact-finding mission on behalf of the Tompkins County Workers’ Center (TCWC) on October 1st, the day of the march to the Brooklyn Bridge. Upon our arrival, we were struck by the absolute diversity and commitment of everyone who was at that Saturday protest.

Many different aspects of the weekend were impressive to us, but one thing that stood out was, on one hand, witnessing 700 people being arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge and the subsequent media attention that this garnered, as contrasted to the fact that a few days before, 700 United and Continental Airline pilots took part in a unified march as part of the Occupy Wall St. protests (see Forbes.com) and for which there was very little media coverage. [Did you know that the starting salary for airline pilots in the United States averages just $21K a year?]
The following questions that led us to check out the Occupy Wall Street movement, and which we found to be very well expressed there, include:
• How can we, as a society, justify corporations reaping large profits while paying their workers a minimum wage, rather than a Living Wage, leaving the taxpayers with the responsibility for subsidizing the services our workers absolutely need from the government, effectively subsidizing these same corporations?
• How can we justify the making of record profits by our nation’s largest corporations, especially the banking industry, while small businesses struggle to survive?
• How can we justify bailing out our large multinational banks through the use of our tax dollars, with their CEOs getting major bonuses, while many of us who are having a hard time making ends meet lose our homes with no such bailout?
• Why do the wealthiest one percent of our country own approximately 35% of our nation’s privately owned wealth, the next nineteen percent owning 50%, and the bottom 80% own 15% of our nation’s wealth? Is this only because of the difference in industriousness? Or is there a ‘gaming’ of the system going on?
• How is it that funding is cut to programs, services, and benefits across the board while we, the bottom 80 percent pay more in taxes and the very richest among us are paying a decreasing amount of their wealth into our system of taxation?
It is becoming more and more clear that our nation is in crisis and that many of us feel that we have no influence over how this reality affects our lives. The time has come when decision making and policy creation have to center on the needs of the many instead of the wants of a few. It often seems that these issues are unrelated and, certainly, we all experience them differently. But the bottom line and the common denominator is that our elected officials are more often than not influenced by lobbyists that represent corporate interests above human value.
While the corporate-owned media continues to suggest that there is no central demand or goal of the Occupy Movement, it was apparent to us in NYC on October 1st and in Ithaca on October 5th, when the TCWC organized 300 people who gathered in Bank Alley, and in cities across the nation, that people are making the connection in their minds and in their hearts that the time has come to reclaim our rights as citizens and as human beings to a democratic government that is truly of and by the people instead of by and for the monied interests.
To stay updated on local events and activities related to the Occupy Movement, go to the TCWC website at www.TCWorkersCenter.org , or to Occupy Ithaca on Facebook. On a larger regional basis, go to www.occupytogether.org to find events everywhere in the country.

by Gina Lord Shattuck and Pete Meyers

Gina Lord Shattuck is a member of the Tompkins County Workers’ Center, as well as member of the Board of Directors of the Advocacy Center in Ithaca. Pete Meyers is the Coordinator of the Tompkins County Workers’ Center.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/what-does-the-occupy-movement-mean-for-all-of-us/feed/ 0 Support Teachers in Newfield Who Are at Budget Impasse with Administration http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/support-teachers-in-newfield-who-are-at-budget-impasse-with-administration/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/support-teachers-in-newfield-who-are-at-budget-impasse-with-administration/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:40:39 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1249 The Newfield Teachers (Newfield is a rural area of Tompkins County) are picketing the School Board meeting (247 Main Street, Newfield) on Thursday October 20th at 5:30 as they are currently at impasse. They are looking for some support as they are a small school and would like a big turnout. There will be some people going from the Workers’ Center. If you want in, please holler out at us! (Via email, TCWRH@tcworkerscenter.org of 607-269-0409) (This issue also soooooo relates to the Millionaires Tax that our Illustrious Governor Cuomo would like to protect our Millionaires from!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/support-teachers-in-newfield-who-are-at-budget-impasse-with-administration/feed/ 0 Occupy Cornell Protest and General Assembly: Friday, October 21st, 4:30 to 7 p.m. @ Ho Plaza http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/occupy-cornell-protest-friday-october-14th-12-2-p-m-ho-plaza/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/occupy-cornell-protest-friday-october-14th-12-2-p-m-ho-plaza/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 03:24:22 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1245 On Saturday, Oct 15, the 99% took action in 951 cities–Ithaca included–and 82 countries as we marched on Times Square, the London Stock Exchange, and capitols in Italy, South Korea, Japan, Australia….

At Cornell, we rallied on Ho Plaza and called for the first General Assembly of #OccupyCornell. Now it’s our responsibility to stand with the global movement–to build the forum for where this conversation begins, to give an equal voice to those who have been voiceless, and to grasp and confront the challenges we face as students and Americans.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/occupy-cornell-protest-friday-october-14th-12-2-p-m-ho-plaza/feed/ 0 Ithaca Rally in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/rally-in-solidarity-with-occupy-wall-street-in-ithaca/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/rally-in-solidarity-with-occupy-wall-street-in-ithaca/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:12:49 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1238 Join the Workers’ Center and Ithaca’s MoveOn Council at the Occupy Wall Street solidarity rally on Wednesday, October 5th at 4:30pm at the Bank Alley Entrance to the Commons. That is the north entrance to the Commons at E. Seneca and N. Tioga Streets, near the downtown post office, parking garage and Hilton Garden Inn.

Get up! Stand up! It’s time for us to make this country work for the 99%, not just the richest bags and individuals.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/10/rally-in-solidarity-with-occupy-wall-street-in-ithaca/feed/ 0 Labor Day PIcnic Awards Finally Announced! http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/09/labor-day-picnic-awards-finally-announced/ http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/09/labor-day-picnic-awards-finally-announced/#comments Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:51:07 +0000 TCWC http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/?p=1230 Mother Jones Award: Jamie Dangler, Professor of Sociology at SUNY/Cortland and United University Professions Organizer (SUNY/Cortland)

Joe Hill Award: Labor Initiative Promoting Solidarity (LIPS), Student labor solidarity group at Ithaca College formed this past school year that played an absolutely instrumental role on campus and in the community about the successful campaign for a Living Wage for all Ithaca College Dining Service workers (employed by the Sodexo Corporation).

Friend of Labor Award: Pastor Rich Rose, First Baptist Church, Ithaca: For his tireless service and work on behalf of justice for workers wherever they come from, Pastor Rose in the past year played in instrumental role, locally, in bringing to light the knowledge of the unethical use of J-1 visa workers, primarily students, from around the world, into 4 month ‘cultural homestays’, which means working as Hotel Housekeepers with the Holiday Inn in Ithaca, as well as Marietta Corporation assembly line workers. As well for his incredible commitment to helping play such a strong community role in communicating to Ithaca College Administration the importance of a Living Wage for all Ithaca College workers. (See Joe Hill Award above.)

Special Media Award: To Community Activist Theresa Alt for her tireless efforts over the past decades to document all worker, economic and social justice activities that take place in Tompkins County on video and then broadcasting on Cable Access TV.

]]> http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/2011/09/labor-day-picnic-awards-finally-announced/feed/ 0