Author: Jonathan Williams

Photo via Wikipedia

Opponents to raising the minimum wage often declare doomsday predictions about what will happen to jobs. But is any of it true? “Washington state, for example, has the nation’s highest rate, $9.32 an hour. Despite dire predictions that increases would cripple job growth and boost unemployment, this isn’t what happened.… Read More»

With voters overwhelmingly supporting an increase in the federal minimum wage and midterm elections looming, this is our moment to put pressure on Congress. Tell your representative to sign the discharge petition now and force a vote on the Fair Minimum Wage Act!

Opponents love to claim that raising the minimum wage will drive businesses elsewhere, but the evidence suggests otherwise. A study at the University of California at Berkeley compared hundreds of pairs of adjacent counties in states with differing minimum wage rates and concluded that a higher minimum wage didn’t significantly… Read More»

See for yourself: Year Minimum wage Representative Salary Senator Salary 1988 $3.35 $89,500 $89,500 1989 $3.35 $89,500 $89,500 1990 $3.80 $96,600 $98,400 1991 $4.25 $125,100 $125,100 1992 $4.25 $129,500 $129,500 1993 $4.25 $133,600 $133,600 1994 $4.25 $133,600 $133,600 1995 $4.25 $133,600 $133,600 1996 $4.75 $133,600 $133,600 1997 $5.15 $133,600 $133,600… Read More»

“Two-thirds of Americans think that top corporate executives and CEOs are paid too much, and few Americans think they will ever enter the ranks of the highest paid, according to a new HuffPost/YouGov poll.” Learn more about the 100 highest-paid CEOs.

"In an effort to highlight the population of Los Angeles workers who earn a ‘poverty’ salary, and to urge Angelenos to support living wage measures, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor has paid for a month-long campaign of seven billboards that mimic the sign that reminds drivers of a city’s population when leaving or entering its limits. But the figure on these boards is the number of people living on or below the poverty line." Read more about this campaign.

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Not only is she giving away half of her salary, she says wonderful things like this: “Seattle City Councilmembers receive over $117,000 a year — the second highest of any city council in the country. Inevitably, such a salary removes Councilmembers from the realities of life for working people. I… Read More»

Original photo by Flickr user livenature

Utah is on track to end homelessness by 2015 with this remarkably simple concept. “In 2005, Utah figured out that the annual cost of E.R. visits and jail stays for homeless people was about $16,670 per person, compared to $11,000 to provide each homeless person with an apartment and a… Read More»

Source: Oxfam

A recent report by Oxfam has shed new light on the growing crisis of economic inequality. According to the report, one percent of the human population now controls almost half of the world’s wealth. The 85 wealthiest individuals own as much as half of the world’s population. The report warns… Read More»