When you hear about the Fight for $15, you may automatically think of the movement to increase wages for fast-food workers. But did you know that an estimated 25 percent of North Carolina state employees do not make $15 an hour? That number is likely even higher at the county and local levels.

Right now, more than 64 million people work at jobs paying poverty-level wages, around 42 percent of the workforce. That drags down wages for everyone. The Fight for $15 isn’t just about fast-food and private-sector workers. We have state workers right here in North Carolina who risk their lives every day, but still make less than $15 an hour – hardworking men and women in our prisons, mental hospitals, on our roads, in our schools and colleges and more.

A rising tide will lift all boats. An increase for our lowest-paid workers will allow them to spend more in our communities, fueling our economy. We need elected officials who care about paying state workers a livable wage, and who will fight for cost-of-living adjustments for our retirees as well. We need to elect officials who care about our retirement security and the affordability of the State Health Plan.

In the 2016 election, we can make that happen. Please take a few minutes to read over EMPAC’s selections for Governor and Council of State. Legislative endorsements will be made as Election Day nears.

A group of SEANC members traveled to Richmond, Va., on Aug. 12-13 to take part in the first Fight for $15 convention and march. Below is District 41 member Mike Gould’s take on the experience.

***

“Some issues are not left versus right, but right versus wrong. We need to embrace our deepest values and push for a revolution of the heart of our democracy.”

With these words spoken by Dr. Reverend William Barber echoing in my mind, from his address to the nation at the Democratic National Convention this past July, I boarded a bus on a hot and muggy Friday afternoon in Durham with several other SEANC and Faculty Forward members to attend the national conference and march for the Fight for $15 Movement. Richmond, Va., was our destination; this, the former capital of the Confederacy, was where our Saturday afternoon march would travel down Monument Avenue culminating in a gathering in front of the massive statue erected to honor General Robert E. Lee.

I was in Selma, Alabama – the place that galvanized people from across the nation to travel to Selma in order to press elected officials to finally enact the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – for a week of training and certification in Conflict Reconciliation and Nonviolence methods when I was invited on this trip. Everything I saw and learned in Selma (a place where, today, there exists a country club which prohibits blacks and women from being members, and the city schools educate a nearly 100-percent minority population) confirmed that I was being called to be in Richmond fighting for economic justice.

Arriving in Richmond, our group was joined by more than 3,000 attendees from across the nation for the first day of the convention; many thousands more joined us for the second day. These people were from many different professions: restaurant and service workers, home health and child care workers, airport security and other aviation specialty workers, among others; many of these brothers and sisters are fellow members of SEIU. Even though others were not, the key issue connecting all these people was the fact that they can no longer afford to support themselves and their families while working at their low-wage jobs. Many of the attendees shared that they were working two, three, and sometimes even four jobs in an effort to afford basic housing and adequate food. Additionally, there were a disproportionate number of people of color; there were many African-American and Latino workers in their late 20’s and 30’s, and I met several who had completed their college educations or were working toward earning their college degree. Lastly, over half were female, and were functioning as their household’s breadwinner to support at least one child.

Why should I, as well as my fellow state employees and SEANC members care about this effort? For me, it is the awareness of the opportunities I have been afforded in this country, which have enabled me to earn both my bachelor and master’s degrees, as well as attain and keep a decent job that provides me with the financial ability to pay my bills and at least keep my nose above water. It certainly cannot be attributed to merely “working hard and playing by the rules,” as I have known many others who have worked harder than me yet experienced prejudice due to skin color, gender, or sexual orientation which denies them comparable opportunities.

Studies show there are currently 64 million workers who earn less than $15 per hour; this represents 42 percent of all American workers. The National Employment Law Project (NELP) reports that these workers are disproportionately female (54.7%, but only comprise 48.3% of the total American workforce), African-American (15%, comprising 12% of the total workforce), or Latino (23%, comprising 15% of the total workforce). Additionally, of these workers earning less than $15 per hour, 46.3% are aged 35 or older. Taking the time to research the 2016 statistics from the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources (NC OSHR), I noted that the average state salary is $39,986 (lower than the last time I reviewed the statistics), 49.9% of workers are female, 30% are African-American, and 30.4% are below the age of 40. Interestingly, 40.3% have only a high school diploma or less.

An annual salary of $15 per hour equates to an annual salary of $31,200 (figuring 2,080 work hours per year at $15 per hour – 40x52x15). Do you work in a prison and know any Correctional Case Managers ($29,826), Office Assistants ($23,700), or Health Care Technicians ($26,159)? Perhaps you know someone who is a Deputy Clerk of Court ($28,646), an LPN ($25,895), or even a Transportation Worker ($23,332). These salaries were pulled from an assortment of jobs on the OSHR Work for N.C. website in August. Perhaps a push for a living wage of at least $15 per hour would help many of our coworkers and fellow state employees here in North Carolina. 

But there is another reason why we should be involved in what Reverend Barber referred to as “finishing the unfinished work of the Third Reconstruction,” and that is to lift our communities where we live, work, worship, and raise our families. As Dr. Martin Luther King stated on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama after the completion of the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965, “there are no broad highways that lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. But we must keep going,” working to elevate our neighbors who have been struggling in poverty. 

By doing this, we will see the benefits to the community at large.