The Day of the Living Wage

In a piece related to Warwick's earlier post, the Sunday New York Times Magazine cover story discusses the living wage as a moral issue. While Jon Gertner offers useful insights on how the issue may aid the Democrats in the mid-term elections, the greater importance of the living wage, in my opinion, is to recognize the dignity of work. No one who works a 40-hour work week in America should be unable to provide for the basic necessities of life: food, shelter, and clothing. The recognition of this fact may explain the bipartisan support in the Senate for an increase in the federal minimum wage. This movement--unsuccessful to this point--has been initiated by the odd pairing of Senators Rick Santorum (R-PA) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA).

If progressives are to promote an agenda of social justice, the idea of a living wage must be at the heart of their efforts. As Gertner's article points out, such an effort will involve more than mainline progressive groups. Institutions like the Catholic Church may find common cause in the necessity of ensuring that all who work may live at a subsistence level at the very least.

For more information on the nationwide campaign to secure the living wage at the local level, visit the ACORN site.