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#1341442 - 04/28/12 12:02 PM
May Day in Tompkins
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Ayuveda
Senior Member
Registered: 04/05/10
Posts: 6367
Loc: Imagine
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Tuesday -May Day in Tompkins! Minimum Wage as Living Wage & Corporate Personhood
“In solidarity with the May 1st global strike, the Tompkins County Workers’ Center, Occupy Ithaca and Occupy Cornell call for a People’s School on the Commons from 10:30 to 4. May Day is a day to confront widespread racial discrimination, declining wages and insecure contracts for workers, the exploitation of undocumented workers, rising debts for students, ever mounting stresses for working parents, and crippling income and wealth inequality. Discussions on the topics of social justice, worker justice, and education justice will be held simultaneously throughout the day.For the past five years, the Tompkins County Workers’ Center (TCWC) has helped to play a major role in Tompkins County May Day events. For those who don’t know, May Day is also known as International Workers’ Day.
This year, on Tuesday, May 1st, the TCWC will be holding a Rally outside of the Tompkins County Courthouse (corner of Tioga and Court Sts. in Ithaca) @ 4:45 p.m. in advance of the Tompkins County Legislature voting on a Resolution surrounding statewide Minimum Wage legislation. The TCWC insists that the time has come that our New York State and Federal Minimum Wage must be a Living Wage! In addition, the Legislature will also be voting on a Resolution regarding ‘corporate personhood’. The TCWC will be joining with Occupy Ithaca and Occupy Cornell for the entire day to make for a fun, festive, and action-oriented day!
Occupy Ithaca:
10:30-4:00: People’s School on Ithaca Commons
Sign-up at 10:30 in front of Bernie Milton Pavilion;
Discussions starting at 11:00, 1:00, and 2:30, including several workshops facilated by the TCWC;
Noon: Lunch provided by Ithaca Food Not Bombs;
4:30: Rally to raise the minimum wage to a living wage
Tompkins County Workers’ Center:
4:45: Rally at the County Courthouse, 320 N. Tioga St. (corner of Court and Tioga Sts.)
Raise the minimum wage to a living wage & a Resolution to End Corporate Personhood will be heard by the Tompkins County Legislature.
5:15: Public comment before the County Legislature.
Occupy Ithaca:
6:30: General Assembly at Bernie Milton Pavilion to plan Direct Action
http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/
_________________________
Sometimes, tear gas can make you see better.
-graffiti in Athens
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#1342363 - 05/03/12 02:58 PM
Re: May Day in Tompkins
[Re: twocats]
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Ayuveda
Senior Member
Registered: 04/05/10
Posts: 6367
Loc: Imagine
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Tompkins County Legislature adopts minimum-wage resolution
Ithaca Journal
May Day 2012
ITHACA – With a rally of approximately 70 people gathering outside the Tompkins County Courthouse Tuesday night, county legislators voted to endorse raising the state minimum wage.
The resolution passed with a 10-5 vote. Voting against were Legislators Jim Dennis, D-Ulysses and Enfield, David McKenna, R- Newfield and Enfield, Frank Proto, R- Caroline and Danby, Pat Pryor, D-Lansing and Brian Robison, R-Groton.
The resolution urges New York state to raise minimum wage beyond the currently purposed $8.50 an hour to $10.39 an hour, by April 1, 2013. The state minimum wage increase to $10.39 would put the lowest wages in pace with inflation over the past 40 years.
The vote occurred on International Workers’ Day, and the rally, organized by the Tompkins County Workers’ Center and Occupy Ithaca, brought a standing room only capacity to the county legislature’s public hearing.
Three Tompkins County residents spoke in favor or raising the minimum wage, none spoke against.
_________________________
Sometimes, tear gas can make you see better.
-graffiti in Athens
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#1344509 - 05/15/12 12:42 AM
Re: May Day in Tompkins
[Re: twocats]
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Ayuveda
Senior Member
Registered: 04/05/10
Posts: 6367
Loc: Imagine
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New York must finally raise the minimum wage
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AND SHELDON SILVER
Thursday, February 02, 2012
It’s time to raise the minimum wage. The last time the state legislature voted to raise the wage was 8 years ago.
Over the past several years, the cost of living in New York — like nearly everywhere else — has gone up, but for New Yorkers at the bottom of the economic ladder, one thing has remained unchanged: the minimum wage.
Given today’s high cost of living, it is unrealistic to expect a working person, much less a family, to afford rent, groceries, clothing, heating, phone, transportation, child care — and be able to save for the future — on $290 a week. If the minimum wage does not allow someone to afford even the most minimal of expenses, the incentive to work is diminished.
Social safety net programs and policies — including the minimum wage — should always incentivize and reward work, because a job is the single most effective anti-poverty tool ever created. That’s why both Democrats and Republicans have strongly supported the Earned Income Tax Credit, which incentivizes work by giving low-wage workers a negative tax rate. That is, rather than paying income taxes, they receive a check from the IRS. That extra money encourages people to take low-wage jobs by increasing the financial rewards of working.
Like the EITC, the minimum wage helps those who are trying to help themselves. And it helps taxpayers by reducing the number of people who might otherwise have to rely on public assistance to survive. Taxpayers benefit when government dependency is low — and so does the economy.
Eighteen other states — including Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont — as well as Washington, D.C., have raised their minimum wages above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. In addition, 10 states index their minimum wages to inflation to ensure that their real values do not erode as the cost of living rises.
New York’s minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation over the past 40 years. And over the past five years, it has increased by only 10 cents. Raising the minimum wage will put much-needed cash in the pockets of more than 1.2 million New Yorkers, who will spend those extra dollars in local stores.
While we would prefer the federal government raise the minimum wage to keep us competitive with our neighbors, New Yorkers who are working minimum-wage jobs cannot afford to wait. As the purchasing power of the minimum wage continues to erode, it makes surviving on it that much harder.
The free market is the most powerful tool we have to reduce poverty and spread prosperity. And if the free market were perfect, we would not need any government regulations.
But it isn’t. That is why we have laws prohibiting child labor, ensuring workplace safety and guaranteeing access to emergency health care.
The minimum wage is a vital part of the social safety net. By raising it, we can help more people escape poverty and avoid government dependency — strengthening communities from Brooklyn to Buffalo.
Bloomberg is mayor of New York. Silver is speaker of the state Assembly.
_________________________
Sometimes, tear gas can make you see better.
-graffiti in Athens
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#1344544 - 05/15/12 07:42 AM
Re: May Day in Tompkins
[Re: Ayuveda]
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bluezone
Diamond Member
Registered: 12/19/04
Posts: 26674
Loc: USA
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New York must finally raise the minimum wage
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG AND SHELDON SILVER
Thursday, February 02, 2012
The call is for a $12.78 to start living wage for all workers.
and if the individual has to pay $1,000 per month for healthcare then there is not much left over
if the individual has a family then the price would be well over $1,000 per month
$12.78 x 40(hrs) x 52(weeks/yr) = $26,580
$26,580 - $12,000 (healthcare/yr) = $14,580
when the individual has to pay into their retirement they will be left with a negative income
$1,500 (per month retirement) x 12 = $18,000
$14,580 (pay after healtchcare) - $18,000 = - $3420
how does one live off of a negative income?
_________________________
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."
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