by Sheila Payne, Alachua County Labor Coalition
The Alachua County Labor Coalition is forging ahead with the first leg of its Livable Wage Campaign in Alachua County. We are speaking to many groups, congregations, unions, businesses and individuals to educate our community about the need for a higher minimum wage in Alachua County, a livable wage.
Over 25 organizations including Veterans for Peace, The Sierra Club, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1205 have endorsed the campaign so far to lift low wage workers over the poverty line. If you would like one of our crackerjack speakers to come speak to your organization, please contact us. We welcome the involvement of the whole community in this effort, which will not only raise the wages of our target businesses, but the wages of the whole community. As wages rise in certain sectors of a community, all wages rise as businesses compete for workers.