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| May 11, 2006
Section: MOUNTAINS Edition: FINAL Page: 1B LESLIE BOYD STAFF STORY |
| By Leslie Boyd LBOYD@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM ASHEVILLE -- The federal minimum wage, $5.15 an hour, just isn't enough anymore, say members of the Asheville-Buncombe Living Wage Campaign. The newly-formed organization held a press conference Wednesday on the steps of City Hall to announce its plan to advocate for a state law increasing the minimum wage to $6 an hour. It also said it would work with local governments for ordinances that mandate all workers -- whose salaries are supported by local tax dollars -- receive a living wage. "We believe that the growing reality of the working poor is not only an issue of fairness but of human dignity," said Isaac Coleman, a member of the campaign steering committee. According to a recent report by the N.C. Justice Center, basic living expenses in most Western North Carolina counties total at least double what one person would earn working full-time at a job paying minimum wage. In Buncombe County, a one-parent-one-child household would have to earn about $13 an hour to meet expenses, according to the report. Mandy Stone, director of the Buncombe County Department of Social Services, believes it's more expensive not to pay people a living wage. She said earlier this week she welcomed the efforts of the campaign. "Here's what we pay when people can't make ends meet," Stone said. "Food assistance costs about $1.45 an hour; Medicaid comes to $3.71 and hour and economic crisis intervention -- home heating assistance, utility bill payment, that sort of thing -- costs the equivalent of $1.46 an hour." The county also pays out $1.27 per hour in child support, said Tim Rhodes of the Buncombe County Department of Social Services. It adds up to $7.89 per hour to cover people's most basic needs. "Even workers in our community that earn $6 or $7 or $8 an hour are not earning enough to support themselves and their families," said Melissa Fridlin of Working Families Win and a member of the steering committee. "Many parents are working two or three jobs just to get by. This is not a sacrifice that parents should have to make. If you work hard, you should be able to meet your needs." Tyrone Greenlee, another member of the steering committee, said the campaign hasn't decided the amount that would constitute a living wage. "The Asheville-Buncombe Living Wage Campaign wants to work with the community, our representatives and economic data to determine a reasonable living wage standard that could be adopted by our local governments," he said. Campaign members called on the city and county to join the 134 municipalities around the country that have passed living wage ordinances. Living wage ordinances requires that the jobs supported by tax dollars pay wages that make it possible for workers and their families to live in the communities they serve. So far, more than 20 agencies and organizations have endorsed the campaign, including the local and state chapters of the League of Women Voters, Pisgah legal Services, five churches, four unions and the state and local chapters of the Association of Women Attorneys. Advocacy group wants a state law to increase minimum wage to $6 Visit CITIZEN-TIMES.com for a list of organizations endorsing the Living Wage Campaign. For more information on the Asheville Buncombe Living Wage Campaign, call 273-1129, e-mail info@ashevillelivingwage.org, or visit www.ashevillelivingwage.org. *Write to state and federal lawmakers asking for an increase in the minimum wage, which hasn't happened in nine years. *Sign onto www.onedollarmore.blogspot.com and sign the petition. *Sign onto the Asheville-Buncombe Living Wage Campaign. |
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