http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/OPINION01/804100363/1007/OPINIONIt is two words that inspire labor unions, rankle employers, and signify little to much of the rest of the public: a "living wage."
As the U.S. economy continues to weaken, and as the global economy undergoes a greater transformation, more and more people are likely to hear about it, and perhaps choose sides in the debate.
Nationwide, a loose coalition of advocacy groups is working to persuade employers to pay a "living wage" — usually defined as the hourly or annual wage a worker would have to earn to feed, transport, house, clothe and provide health care for a family of four, without government assistance. The amount would differ by locality because of differences in costs of goods and services.
Advocates cite the need for this based on a growing proportion of American families living in poverty despite the family breadwinners having jobs. For years, actual wages in the U.S. have declined or remained flat, adjusted for inflation, even as corporate profits and productivity have risen.
In Tennessee, the numbers are worse than for the nation at large. According to the most recent U.S. census figures, the percentage of Tennesseans living in poverty has risen from 13.6 percent in 1997 to 15.6 percent in 2005.
What would constitute a living wage in Tennessee? There is not a nonpartisan estimate, but the advocacy group Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice's 2007 Nashville Living Wage Estimate states that a family of two working adults and two children should earn a gross minimum of $43,076 a year, or about $10.36 an hour for each adult. The estimate is drawn from government statistics including food and fuel costs and fair-market rent.
FULL story and Glover photo at link.
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