The high cost of low wages
In Oregon, an estimated 412,000
workers (25 percent of the workforce)
make $12 an hour or less, and 9 percent
make minimum wage (which is cur-
rently $9.10 an hour), according to a
study released Jan. 8 by the University
of Oregon’s Labor Education and Re-
search Center (LERC), “The High Cost
of Low Wages in Oregon.”
The figures are worse for women
and minorities: 45 percent of Latino
workers and 50 percent of African-
American workers are in low-wage in-
dustries. And those at the bottom of the
barrel for hourly wages are also more
likely to have little or no health or re-
tirement benefit, less predictable work
schedules, more volatile paychecks,
Illinois to sponsor public retirement for private sector
Illinois governor Pat Quinn signed a
bill into law Jan. 4 that’s predicted to
help around two million workers save
for retirement. Starting in 2017, em-
ployers with at least 25 employees will
have to start deducting 3 percent of
workers’ paychecks into the program.
Workers can opt out manually, or may
choose to deduct more than 3 percent.
The program, known as Secure Choice,
is intended to address inadequate re-
tirement savings by workers. Many em-
ployers don’t offer retirement plans be-
cause of the administrative and cost
burden. In this case, the employer bur-
den will be limited to administering a
payroll deduction, which they’re al-
ready doing for taxes. President Obama
has advocated a similar program at the
federal level.
and to work part-time.
Low-wage jobs are concentrated in a
handful of occupations, including retail,
restaurant, janitorial and landscaping,
personal care, and health care support.
The report argues that many low-
wage workers rely on publicly-funded
safety net programs to meet basic needs
— particularly food stamps, Medicaid,
and employment-related day care as-
sistance — and thus that those pro-
grams are being taken advantage of by
big corporations.
The report was funded by six labor
organizations and authored by LERC
faculty members Raahi Reddy and Bob
Bussell, along with UO sociology pro-
fessor Ellen Scott and Ph.D. student
Shauna Dyer, and Daniel Morris, re-
search director Our Oregon.
The full report is available online at
http://bit.ly/1xVK6r7.
E
E
FR
Who’s On Our Side?
Free classified ads to subscribers
By Tom Chamberlain
O
regon ended 2014 by bucking
the national trend in the No-
vember general election, giving
progressive, pro-worker candidates
a decisive win. This was due to the
coordination, determination and
dogged dedication of like-minded
people and organizations.
While Oregon workers look for-
ward to a 2015 legislative session
that could increase the minimum
wage, implement paid sick leave
and move toward universal retire-
ment security, one thing is clear:
we are not immune to what hap-
pens in Washington, D.C.
For the first time in eight years,
Republicans hold majorities in the
United States Senate and House of
Representatives. We are beginning
to see, in bits and pieces, the for-
mation of their agenda.
On the first day of the 2015
Congress, House Republicans
passed legislation establishing par-
liamentary rules for the year. The
rules include a little-noticed provi-
sion that blocks Congress from
shifting funds to prevent a 2016
shortfall in Social Security’s dis-
ability insurance programs. The
Social Security Administration has
projected that, without a transfer of
funds from other Social Security
accounts, 11 million Americans
will see their disability benefits re-
duced by 20 percent. Keep in mind
that the maximum month disability
benefit is just under $1,300 per
month.
The second day of the 114th
Congress, the U.S. House passed
legislation that would increase the
number of hours necessary to qual-
ify for healthcare under the Afford-
able Care Act (ACA); from 30 to
PAGE 6
BARGAIN COUNTER
40 hours per week. This is the first
step in the attempt to systematically
dismantle the ACA. Never mind
the fact that almost 10 million
Americans, including 240,000 in
Oregon, now have healthcare cov-
erage under ObamaCare. Never
mind that the ranks of the unin-
sured have dropped by almost 14
percent, or that the Congressional
Budget Office predicts over the
next four years Americans will see
$500 billion in health care savings.
The Affordable Care Act is
working. After voting 50 times for
an outright appeal of the ACA in
the House and failing to get rid of
it, Republican leadership is now
rolling out a strategy to kill Obama
Care by a thousand small cuts.
Also in the crosshairs of the
Right are overturning President
Obama’s Executive Order to ease
the threat of deportation of millions
of undocumented workers, as well
as easing regulations on Wall Street
and large financial institutions.
These financial regulations were
put in place to end racketeering
banking practices that resulted in
the worst financial meltdown since
the Great Depression, and the sub-
sequent bailout of financial profi-
teers.
Thinly veiled in the cloak of job
creation, Republican leadership
will attempt to roll back environ-
mental standards, along with
worker and consumer protections,
and reduce the power of the Na-
tional Labor Relations Board, as
well as to repeal the Davis-Bacon
Act, which requires contractors to
pay prevailing construction wages
for federally-funded projects.
Finally, the outspoken anti-
worker Newt Gingrich is advocat-
ing for passage of the Employee
Rights Act, a sweeping piece of
legislation that, if passed, would
upend labor law in the United
States. The Employee Rights Act
would impose greater barriers to
workers who are trying to form a
union and make it more difficult for
unions to participate in the political
process — and that’s just two com-
ponents of this proposed law.
Elections have ramifications,
and the result of the 2014 election
is a frontal assault on the men,
women and children who are not a
part of the privileged class. We live
in a nation where the 1% controls
both the Congress and the Supreme
Court. The 99 percent has but one
check in this unbalanced system: a
presidential veto stamp.
But we can’t just sit back and
wait for that to happen. We have to
organize and take action.
Our challenge will be to push
back against anti-worker, pro-cor-
porate bills in Congress and under-
stand that defeating bad legislation
may very well be our greatest vic-
tories over these next 24 months.
We must take every opportunity to
expose the corporate agenda of the
1%, and hold accountable those
elected leaders who advocate it, re-
gardless of what political party they
belong to.
We must prepare for 2016 and
take back America for working
Americans.
Tom Chamberlain is president of
the Oregon AFL-CIO.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
DEADLINE: Friday prior to publication
Published 1st and 3rd Fridays
Now accepting e-mails
Send to: Michael492@comcast.net
Mail to: NWLP, PO Box 13150, Portland OR 97213
(Please include union affiliation)
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