Just Economics of Western North Carolina
Policy Advocacy
A “living wage” is the amount that a worker must earn to afford his or her basic necessities, without public or private assistance.
The living wage for a single individual living in Buncombe County for 2012-2013 is $11.35/hour without qualifying employer provided health insurance, or $9.85/hour with employer-provided health insurance.
Over the past four years, JE spearheaded the Asheville- Buncombe Living Wage Campaign, which resulted in the passage of a living wage ordinance by Asheville’s City Council in May 2007.
The ordinance ensures that city employees are paid a living wage, marking a significant first step in the struggle for economic justice in our region. The next phase in the campaign was to extend the Asheville City Living Wage Policy to employees working on a City contract. In March of 2011, City Council voted to extend that ordinance to a subset of contractors (employees working on a general service contract in the $30,000-$90,000 contract range). In 2012, City Council unanimously voted to extend the Asheville City Ordinance to contracts up to $200,000. We hope that after monitoring the effects of this policy that Council will extend the living wage requirement to all general service contracts next spring.
Just Economics is now working on a Buncombe County Living Wage Campaign. Click here for more information.
Other Advocacy Issues
We also partner with other organizations to support a number of workers’ justice issues. Currently, these include:
Supporting the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in North Carolina with the NC Justice Center.
Promoting a balanced approach to the state budget with Together NC.
Opposing budget cuts to the postal service.
Please click on any of the links above to find out more information.