Will Work For Living Wage - Minimum Wage Increase

From an email and phone bank to SWOP Dbase and membership:

On Wednesday May 25, 2005, at 5PM, the City Council is holding a special hearing downtown at city hall to debate sending a minimum wage increase to the voters in the upcoming October City Elections. A big thanks goes out to abqlivingwage.org and the ABQ Living Wage coalition for their work to bring this to the Council's attention. SWOP is calling a member meeting on Tuesday May 26, 2005, at 6 PM at the SWOP office (211 10^th Street SW) to strategize about what we want to contribute to the debate and to make signs for Wednesday’s council meeting.

· Meet at the SWOP office at 6pm Tuesday May 24^th to make signs and to develop our message for those who intend to speak.

· Meet at the SWOP office at 4:30pm on Wednesday May 25^th to go to the meeting, or meet us there at 5:00 to get a seat and sign up to speak.

A minimum wage increase (and even more so a real living wage) fits right in with SWOP’s economic justice and economic development work over the last 25 years. As one of the poorest states in the union, the message from political and economic leadership in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and around the state has been jobs at any cost. This has translated into low wages, high poverty rates and struggling working families.

SWOP has continuously organized and advocated for policies that increase wages, that build wealth in working, low income and communities of color and that pull NM and Albuquerque out of its economic slumber so young people who have grown up here can continue to live in the state and raise a family.

SWOP’s youth group is actively working to build a positive agenda for young people in the city to affect city elections in the fall. They are particularly interested in the wage increase as young people are some of the lowest wage earners in the state. Follow http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0518-25.htm for information on young people and low wages.

This minimum wage increase is similar to federal minimum wage legislation proposed last week in the US House of Reps and Senate. Follow http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0518-24.htm to view a press release about federal legislation.

In solidarity,

Karlos Schmieder
Communications Organizer
SouthWest Organizing Project
karlos@swop.net

“empowering disenfranchised, working communities to realize racial and gender equality and social and economic justice.”