ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Too Many Unemployed or Underpaid
RECEIVED Mon., Oct. 12, 2009
Dear Editor,
We are pleased the Chronicle is covering the economic incentives issue [“City Hall Hustle,” News, Oct. 9]. However, in his column, Mr. Dunbar said Austin Interfaith leaders had a preconceived notion about a surplus of local work. When I said low-wage jobs already exist, I meant exactly that: Too many of our families are stuck in low-wage jobs with no chance at advancement. I was not talking about unfilled jobs, and we are as aware as anybody that many of our families are unemployed.
As part of conversations before their election, including at our accountability sessions, every member of the current City Council and the mayor committed to support a requirement that any company receiving tax abatements pay all of its employees a living wage of $18/hour with benefits, a career ladder, and a strategy to hire locally. This includes all of the public officials quoted in Dunbar’s article. Eighteen dollars an hour is 175% of the federal poverty level, well below the threshold for city social services to kick in (200% of poverty or $21/hour for a family of four). The Center for Public Policy Priorities pegs the current living wage in Austin at $22/hour. If the city is going to offer economic incentives and tax abatements to corporations, they should not be used to subsidize poverty wages.
We welcome companies moving to Austin and understand that the jobs they offer may be at different wage levels. However, when we begin to subsidize private companies with public tax dollars, we have the right to demand certain standards. Austin Interfaith leaders believe that the city should not use public revenue to subsidize low-wage jobs. It makes no economic sense to give $10 million or $15 million to a corporation that pays wages that keep workers dependent on public assistance. Our families are worth more than that.
We are pleased the Chronicle is covering the economic incentives issue [“City Hall Hustle,” News, Oct. 9]. However, in his column, Mr. Dunbar said Austin Interfaith leaders had a preconceived notion about a surplus of local work. When I said low-wage jobs already exist, I meant exactly that: Too many of our families are stuck in low-wage jobs with no chance at advancement. I was not talking about unfilled jobs, and we are as aware as anybody that many of our families are unemployed.
As part of conversations before their election, including at our accountability sessions, every member of the current City Council and the mayor committed to support a requirement that any company receiving tax abatements pay all of its employees a living wage of $18/hour with benefits, a career ladder, and a strategy to hire locally. This includes all of the public officials quoted in Dunbar’s article. Eighteen dollars an hour is 175% of the federal poverty level, well below the threshold for city social services to kick in (200% of poverty or $21/hour for a family of four). The Center for Public Policy Priorities pegs the current living wage in Austin at $22/hour. If the city is going to offer economic incentives and tax abatements to corporations, they should not be used to subsidize poverty wages.
We welcome companies moving to Austin and understand that the jobs they offer may be at different wage levels. However, when we begin to subsidize private companies with public tax dollars, we have the right to demand certain standards. Austin Interfaith leaders believe that the city should not use public revenue to subsidize low-wage jobs. It makes no economic sense to give $10 million or $15 million to a corporation that pays wages that keep workers dependent on public assistance. Our families are worth more than that.
Minerva Camarena Skeith,
Austin Interfaith Strategy Team
Austin Interfaith Strategy Team
