Living in poverty means lack of access to affordable housing, health care, higher education, job training, dependable transportation, and the list goes on and on.

Our fight for low wage workers requires broad based committed support from community activists, academics, elected officials, clergy, workers' rights groups, legislation, political participation, and involved and informed community members.

Won't you join us in our fight to:

  • Implement a Living Wage
  • Raise the Minimum Wage
  • Get Healthcare for All
  • Support the Earned Income Tax Credit
  • Encourage Union Representation
  • Expose the truth about "Right to Work" laws in Indiana
  • Support Public Assistance
  • Put Good Jobs First: this initiative ties good paying jobs thresholds with penalties to companies getting tax abatements and incentives. For more information, visit www.goodjobsfirst.org.

FAQs:


First, to answer the question: What is a Living Wage?

A living wage is a wage that allows a full time worker to provide food, housing, health care, childcare, and basic transportation for themselves and their family.

Next, to answer the question: Why should we care?

To date, 112 other municipalities in the U.S. have passed a living wage ordinance. In 1997, in Marion County, a full-time working parent with one child needed a wage of $11 an hour to meet this minimal level. With two kids they would need $13.50. We all know how much costs have risen since then. Our community should want to align itself with other communities that have decided that social justice makes economic sense.

As we lift up wages, we stand up for the dignity of every working person, and for the health, safety, morals, and integrity of our community. If the minimum wage had grown at the same rate as CEO salaries since 1960, it would now be $41 an hour. Instead, at $5.85 in Indiana, it provides barely more than half the Federal poverty level for a family of four. As a community, we cannot tolerate such disparities in the apparent value of human lives. Every full-time worker deserves at least a living wage.

The Community, Faith and Labor Coalition (CFLC) of Indiana works diligently to bring living wage ordinances to Indiana. Please spend some time reading the information on this website and contact us for more information. We'd also love to have you join us for our next meeting!

One of the most common questions we can answer here is: What would it cost?

The direct cost to the City and County governments to bring all of its full-time workers up to a wage of $10 an hour would be approximately $740,000 per year. 460 workers would be affected. However, taxpayers would save money in many other areas. Taxpayers now pay the cost of food stamps, medical and housing programs that many full-time workers need to survive on current poverty wages. A living wage would remove the taxpayers' subsidy now given to many employers dealing with our government. All community residents would also benefit as higher incomes result in more stable families and neighborhoods, lower crime, better education, not to mention increased tax revenues paid by these workers and the businesses they patronize.

Another is: Won't paying higher wages hurt businesses?

A careful study by a Michigan State University professor of economics, originally opposed to living wage ordinances, shows little, if any, job losses. Job losses are more than offset by the benefits of lifting families out of poverty. How do businesses pay more without suffering? Higher pay leads to more productive workers due to less turnover and absenteeism, higher employee satisfaction, and greater willingness to upgrade skills.