In the News
In the News
COPS/Metro Gets $15 /Hour Living Wage into San Antonio Draft Budget
....For the first time in city history, the lowest-paid municipal workers are set to begin earning $15 an hour — a major victory for COPS/Metro Alliance, which has been advocating for a living wage for several years.
Turnaround Tuesday Places 79 Baltimoreans in Living Wage Work
As a result of building critical relationships with area hospitals and taking action to pressure the Health Services Cost Review Commission to increase hospital reimbursement rates to fund community health positions, Turnaround Tuesday has placed 79 individuals in three new positions: Community Health Workers, Peer Recovery Specialists, and Certified Nurse Assistants/General Nursing Assistants. None of the Turnaround Tuesday-trained individuals have lost their jobs and all positions pay between $15-17/per hour with full benefits. 129 positions still remain to be filled.
COPS/Metro Hikes Base Municipal Wage in San Antonio to $14.25 /Hour
Months after 750 COPS / Metro leaders challenged candidates for San Antonio City Council and the Bexar County Commissioners’ Court to support their living wage agenda in a nonpartisan accountability assembly — and then delivered 8,555 voters to the polls in support of their agenda — both Bexar County and the City of San Antonio increased entry wages to $14.25 per hour.
This is one of several steps leaders have initiated to raise public sector wages to $15 / hour by 2019....
WIN Secures DC Mayoral Pledge on Hiring, Community Safety
‘Turnaround Tuesday’ Helping Those Who’ve Hit Rock Bottom Get Back Up
The figures are pretty dismal. 75 percent of those who are released from prison, will be back behind bars within five years. And only half of those who remain free have jobs. That’s why what’s happening in the basement of Zion Baptist Church every Tuesday is so remarkable....
PCI Secures Council Pledges to Double JobPath Funding
125 Pima County Interfaith resident leaders of Ward 3 Tucson assembled and secured commitments from primary candidates Felicia Chew, Paul Durham and Tom Tronsdal. The session was organized by Pima County Interfaith Civic Education Organization, Southern Arizona Interfaith (SAI) and Literacy Connects. All three candidates pledged to support keeping Tucson an Immigrant Welcoming city, to support PCI efforts to fight SPICE and other drugs in Ward 3, and to meet with the organizations if elected.
Candidates Chew and Tronsdal committed to increasing funding for KidCo and JobPath, keeping low-income bus fares at their current level, and protecting the number of bus routes.
Attendees committed to vote, get others to vote, and to knock on doors in Ward 3 neighborhoods. Two “Neighbor to Neighbor – Walk & Call” sessions have already been scheduled.
IAF Workforce Development Model Crushes Competition, Shows Sizable and Sustained Gains
Almost ten years ago, Project QUEST agreed to participate in a randomized control trial in which half of a pool of 400+ qualified and equally motivated applicants were picked by a computer to participate in Project QUEST. The other half were turned away and they pursued other options.
After three years, Project QUEST graduates were already earning more than those who were turned away. By Year 6, that difference in earnings had not only persisted, it increased to over $5,000 per year.
Metro IAF & ATU: "Leave the Bus Lines Alone"
In Washington, D.C., 300 workers and riders turned out to the latest hearing on budget cuts to tell the WMATA Metro Board to 'leave the bus lines alone."
Metro IAF has been working in collaboration with the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) to increase public investment in the DC region's metro transit system.
BUILD's Turnaround Tuesday Movement Hits Milestone of 240 Employed
BUILD has been at the forefront of the jobs movement in Baltimore and has leveraged its 4 decades of organizing experience to cultivate partnerships to promote jobs for returning citizens. Aso f early December the movement has employed 240 individuals.
IAF Organizer J. Lange Addresses Amalgamated Transit Union
An entire generation of union leadership has been forced to play defense. But now, standing before the 2016 Convention of the Amalgamated Transit Union, I am here to tell you that this is the time to start playing offense. Yours is the union to show the rest of us how to do it. Your leadership is the leadership best equipped to throw the ball far down the field and score.
Northern & Central LA Interfaith Launches ACTS to Combat Poverty
With Louisiana as the state with the third highest number of poor people, many of them working full-time, Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith leaders are devising new ways to tackle poverty. Says Pastor Clayton Moore, “If you work, how is it that you’re poor?”
NCLI leaders have launched Another Chance to Succeed (ACTS), modeling itself on Project QUEST in San Antonio and...
PCIC Leverages 16% Increase in County Funding for Job Training
After a campaign that included educating County Supervisors about the economic (and life) impact of JobPath workforce development program, leaders of Pima County Interfaith won a 16% increase in funding for the program, from $423 thousand to $500 thousand. Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 for the increase after Pastor Steve Springer of Dove of Peace Lutheran Church and Lindsay Leonard, a JobPathgraduate, spoke.
Former students like Patty Popp
COPS / Metro Wins Wage Hike for Lowest Paid School Workers
Thanks to the intervention of COPS / Metro Alliance leaders that stood with San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD)’s lowest paid workers and the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel, the SAISD Board unanimously approved a wage increase of 20% for the district’s lowest paid , from $10/hour to $12/hour....
BUILD Wins Jobs for Baltimore -- Johns Hopkins Leads $69M Initiative
From the Washington Post:
As the news conference ended at Zion Baptist Church in East Baltimore, Bishop Douglas Miles stepped forward and grabbed the mic to say, “This is historic.”
He shared a memory from the late 1960s: A young woman on a bus asked him what school he attended, and when he replied, “Hopkins,” she stopped talking to him.
That was the distance, he said, between the city and the university.
“I stand proudly today as a Hopkins alumnus,” he said, “because my institution is taking the lead in something major in this state.” God doesn’t call us to be the richest or the smartest, he said, but to step forward. Miles closed with a prayer, and shouts rose: “Amen! Amen!”
BUILD Secures Commitments from Baltimore Mayoral Candidates
Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, or BUILD, asked the leading mayoral candidates to commit to creating more jobs and expanding after-school programs for children before about 700 people at Coppin State University. At BUILD's urging, the candidates agreed to create the jobs over four years and to spend an additional $8 million annually on afterschool programs by their final year in office.
"We look forward to holding them accountable," said Rob English, the lead organizer of BUILD.
Community Leaders Pushing Voter Registration, WYPR
Baltimore Mayoral Candidates Pledge to Create Jobs, Assist City Youth, WBALTV
Hospitals to Create Up To 375 Jobs for Disadvantaged City Residents
"We really see systemic challenges in Baltimore, and someone just saw the ability to address it," said Andrew Foster Connors, senior pastor at Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church. "It's less than the number of jobs we wanted, but it's a great start."
The pastor is also co-chair of the interfaith community organization Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, or BUILD, which had rallied for the jobs and brought supporters to meetings of the state Health Services Cost Review Commission, which sets hospital rates and approved the jobs plan Wednesday.
BUILD officials said they hope other businesses in Baltimore follow suit and create the other 625 jobs.
One Quarter to BUILD One Baltimore
Open Cloud Academy Expands in San Antonio, Texas
For years, Rackspace co-founder and Chairman Graham Weston heard complaints that San Antonio’s growing data storage company had to search far and wide for qualified talent. He and others thought, “These were jobs that should have been taken by San Antonians.”
An “aha” moment happened one day when he went to...
In Conservative Town, Faith-Based Group Tackles Minimum Wages
In Texas, one of the most conservative right-to-work states in the country, a church-based organization has begun to make headway in enacting a "living wage" for San Antonio city employees.
In addition to having no state-mandated minimum wage for the private sector, the Legislature has made it illegal for any Texas city or local jurisdiction to pass its own minimum wage.
But after a year of intense organizing and lobbying, the Communities Organized for Public Service and the Metro Alliance (known as COPS/Metro) in September celebrated San Antonio's City Council vote that mandated a $13-an-hour minimum wage for all city employees.
PCICEO Educates Pastors on on Pima County Bonds
Bishop Kicanas fires off a powerful volley in a friendly competition between Pima Community Colleges and religious leaders of PCIC-CEO in Arizona....
Austin Interfaith Wins Historic Wage Increase for Municipal Workers
At a press conference held the day after the passage of the new City budget, Austin Interfaithleaders celebrated a historic living wage win and other ‘budget priorities’ that were included. Austin Interfaith leaders thanked the Mayor and specific council members for acting as “budget champions.”
As a result, the City of Austin will now pay their workers an increased living wage of $13.03 per hour (up from $11.39) and for the first time will include temporary AND contracted workers in that wage standard. Workers employed for at least 12 months will additionally qualify for healthcare benefits. Employees of private corporations receiving public subsidies will also benefit from the wage increase...
Statewide Press Recognizes Texas IAF Work on Wages
COPS / Metro Alliance, Austin Interfaith, Border Interfaith & EPISO, and Dallas Area Interfaith leaders are deservedly getting statewide recognition for their work in support of living wages in San Antonio, Austin, El Paso and Dallas.
Says Business Columnist: Public Sector 'Living Wage' Proper
According to business columnist Michael Taylor of San Antonio Express-News:
"public employers have a greater obligation to address the moral issue of 'a living wage' than do private employers. Unlike private companies, public entities (such as governments) explicitly purport to represent the “public good” in everything they do. The public good should reasonably include paying workers so they can live above the federal poverty level. Nobody really asked my opinion, but these wage hikes seem not only reasonable, but providing a “living wage” for public-sector employees seems like an essential step."
Skill QUEST Curbs Dallas Poverty
More than 400 people have been helped by Skill QUEST since it was launched by Dallas Area Interfaith in late 2010.
A subcommittee of the interfaith group did extensive research among 3,500 people in its 40 member congregations, schools and community organizations in Dallas and Collin counties. It found workforce issues...among the biggest concerns....
Luckless at Texas Capitol, Wage Advocates Go Local
"In Austin, a minimum wage hike to $13.03 an hour for full-time employees will be up for consideration in September as part of the city’s proposed budget. San Antonio leaders will consider a minimum wage of $13 an hour next month. Bexar County is also poised to increase its minimum wage to $13 an hour, while El Paso County could vote next month to boost pay for its lowest-paid employees to $10 an hour. Minimum wages in those localities currently range from $9.45 to $11.66 an hour.
Local organizers affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation are hopeful all four proposals will be approved, saying they’ve received assurances from city and county officials. But for these advocates, the wins could mean sending a message to state lawmakers."