Discussion: Helping All Workers in Today's Economy
Join Supervisor Gioia and other panelists Saturday in El Sobrante in a community conversation on improving wages.
I hope you'll join me Saturday in a public discussion on increasing the minimum wage and other ways to help ensure that people of all income levels benefit from today's improving economy, and aren't left behind.
The panel discussion, called Common Sense Economics, will be held
Saturday, March 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the El Sobrante United Methodist Church, 670 Appian Way. Other panelists include:
Dr. Steven Pitts, Economist, UC Berkeley Labor Center
Margaret Hanlon-Gradie, Executive Director, Contra Costa AFL-CIO
Rev. Doctor Mark Zier, Pastor, El Sobrante United Methodist Church
This talk is sponsored by the Contra Costa Central Labor Council and the El Sobrante United Methodist Church. Free continental breakfast and light lunch.
For more information or to reserve a spot call 510-223-0790 or
email esumc@esumconline.org.
As Co-Chair of
Rise Together (a Bay Area effort to cut poverty in half by 2020), and a member of
Ensuring Opportunity, a Contra Costa County collaborative working to
reduce poverty countywide, I'm honored to join other experts looking for solutions to income disparity.
Consider a few striking facts:
131,000 Contra Costa residents live below the Federal Poverty Level ($23,850 for a family of four); and 38,000 of these are children.
A family of four with both adults working at minimum wage ($9.00 an hour), earns $37,440 annually.
The Contra Costa Self-Sufficiency Standard, a measure of what it takes to meet basic needs in Contra Costa County is $71,771 for a family of four, or both adults earning $17 an hour.
Research shows higher wages translate to improved health; improved learning for children; reduced worker turnover; increased productivity; and fewer public subsides.
