The New York Women's Foundation®

2001 Second Annual Public Education Forum

Women & New York City's Low-Wage Labor Market: Is a Living Wage Possible?

"Jasmin is an example of a women who has done all the "right" things. She was in a welfare to work program, went through our job-training program, and became an assistant teacher. She now holds down a full-time job, earns $8.25 an hour but it's not enough to support herself and her two children."
- Mary Burns, Co-Director, Maura Clarke Ita-Ford Center, Speaker

"I thought the forum was going to be a lecture on women's issues. Instead, it was an opportunity to participate in other women's lives as they talked about the issues that are impacting them and their communities. I learned a great deal and want to support their efforts."
- Barbara Wynne, Audience Member

"Most domestic workers face long hours, low wages, isolation, and lack of control over living and working conditions. Labor laws are not enforced…and simply do not protect our basic human rights to decent housing, food, shelter, and a livable wage."
- Carol de Leon, CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, Speaker

"There is a moral commitment to lift the floor for working women, and there is no excuse for poverty during these economic times. We should move beyond the bare minimum and expect fair rewards in income and work protections and create opportunities for working women to achieve economic self-sufficiency."
- Eloisa Gordon, Board Member, Co-moderator

On February 1, 2001, The New York Women's Foundation (NYWF) held its second annual public forum to draw attention to New York City's low-wage labor market, the challenges faced by the city's working poor, and the emerging issue of a living wage, through the voices of those directly affected, our grantee partners.

In New York City, tens of thousands of courageous, hard-working women work day and night to earn a living. The welfare rolls have been drastically reduced, but the jobs that the majority of women have found do not pay enough to lift their families out of poverty. Working conditions at many low wage jobs - which immigrant women of color often fill- can be exploitative and inhumane. Largely unregulated, many of these industries lack standards to protect workers' safety and human rights. The eight-hour workday, sick leave, health benefits and paid vacations are the exception rather than the norm.

What follows are excerpts from the evening. These voices paint a stark picture of the realities of the City's low wage labor market at the same time highlighting the efforts of our grantee to create roads to true economic self-sufficiency for all New Yorkers. These stories teach us that the lack of income security and appropriate working conditions refutes the popular notion that getting any job is the primary solution to the economic problems of women leaving welfare. Financial independence is grounded on living wage jobs and access to meaningful education and training.

Working Poor/Former Welfare Recipients

•	Many women with families are being moved from the welfare rolls into low-income jobs. Most have participated in NYC's welfare to work program but have had to rely on a community based organization such as Maura Clarke Ita Ford Center (MCIF) to find employment. They usually work full-time plus overtime, at minimum or below minimum wage, which does not provide their family's basic needs. The jobs they hold are often temporary and provide few, if any, benefits.
•	Without access to further education and/or comprehensive job training these women will not be able to move out of the low wage job sector. The training provided by MCIF provides access to entry-level jobs, but these jobs do not pay enough to support a family.
•	MICF has joined the New York City Living Wage Campaign, a coalition of community, religious, and labor groups, that proposes legislation requiring private sector employers who receive public subsidies to pay a living wage of $10.00/hour plus benefits or $11.50/hour without benefits. The Campaign is based on the concept that limited public dollars should not subsidize wages which are insufficient to support a family.

Domestic Workers

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Many domestic workers work long hours for low wages and lack control over their living and working conditions. They often work twelve or more hours a day, preparing the breakfast, cleaning the house, walking the dogs, doing the laundry, and caring for the children. CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities has developed a standard contract that covers pay and working conditions for domestic workers which can be used as a basis for negotiation between employer and employee.

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Domestic workers fall below the radar of many existing labor laws. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) which protects workers' rights to organize and other labor laws that protect workers against discrimination (including sexual harassment and racial discrimination) that excludes domestic workers.

Garment Workers

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Over 60% of New York City's 7,000 to 7,500 garment factories are sweatshops. A garment worker is traditionally paid by the piece, that is, a certain amount for each garment she makes. To make more money, she works more hours. But the wages are much too low. In response to demonstrations by thousands of workers in Chinatown, the wage rate was increased, but the cap on the number of hours worked was removed. As a result, to keep a job and earn a subsistence living, a garment worker has to work very long hours.

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Many garment workers work up to 6 or 7 days a week, 10 to 12 hour days. An 80-hour week is not unusual. The repetitious tasks performed for long hours under stressful and unsafe working conditions, often lead to headaches, bronchial asthma, sore joints, and other repetitive stress disorders. Chinese Staff & Workers Association advocates for the right to work a 40-hour week at a living wage and timely relief for injured workers without retaliation from their employers.

Nontraditional Workers

•	Occupations traditionally held by men, such as construction and electrical work, masonry, and building maintenance, have well established career ladders, comprehensive benefits, and high pay. Women comprise less than 25% of this labor force. A graduate of Nontraditional Employment for Women's (NEW) intensive job training program can become an electrical union apprentice who works full-time starting at $16.25 per hour with benefits that include: health and life insurance, paid vacation, 401k, optional overtime, and college or masters degree tuition.
•	NEW advocates on behalf of a new measure of income adequacy, the Self-Sufficiency Standard for the City of New York. This Standard is defined as the amount required to meet a family's basic needs -- food, clothing, housing, childcare, healthcare, transportation, and taxes - without public or private assistance. Self-Sufficiency means maintaining a decent standard of living and not having to choose between basic necessities such as food but not health care, or adequate housing but not childcare. The Standard does not cover movies, vacations or savings.
•	Under the Self-Sufficiency Standard an adult with one school age child living in Brooklyn needs to earn $15.01 an hour with an annual salary of $31,704 to meet basic needs. Compare this to the federal poverty line ($11,610 annual salary) for this family and to the minimum wage ($5.15/hour, $10,712 annual salary). NEW's graduate electrical union apprentice starts at $16.25 per hour and within five years will make $40.00 per hour; she will certainly become economically self-sufficient.

What You Can Do:

•	LEARN as concerned citizens, informed voters and consumers, and strategic investors about the issues surrounding women and low wage work. Ask questions such as: How should public dollars be spent? Under what conditions are the goods we buy produced? What are our civic priorities? How can we become a more just and equitable society?
•	ADVOCATE for public policies that effectively address economic and social justice issues for women in low-wage jobs.
•	SUPPORT with time, money, and connections to resources the many community based organizations that are working on living wage issues, including organizations funded by The New York Women's Foundation. Continue to support NYWF strategic grantmaking of innovative programs in New York City by contacting us at www.nywf.org or call 212-226-2220.

Resources:

•	Living Wage Campaign: The Maura Clarke-Ita Ford Center (MCIF) in Bushwick, Brooklyn provides training, leadership development and ESL/GED classes for women transitioning from welfare to work. Call 718-573-8631 or e-mail mcifcenter@aol.com. For information on the NYC Living Wage Campaign, call 718-246-7900 x20.
•	Domestic Workers: CAAAV Organizing Communities and its Women Workers' Project are working to establish new laws that will set minimum standards for just working conditions in the domestic industry. For a copy of the standard contract, call 212-473-6485 x.101 or x. 102, or e-mail justice@caaav.org.
•	Sweatshop Conditions: The Garment Workers' Health and Safety Project of Chinese Staff and Workers' Association is working to strengthen labor laws which will allow workers to control their working hours and hold policy makers and manufacturers accountable. For more information, call 718-633-9752 or visit www.cswa.org.
•	Nontraditional Employment for Women: Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW) provides comprehensive job-training programs for low-income women that includes vocational skills training, primarily in the building, construction and maintenance fields, with job placement and post-employment support. For more information, call 212-627-6252 or visit www.new-nyc.org.
•	The Self-Sufficiency Standard for the City of New York: For a copy of the report, contact The Women's Center for Educational and Career Advancement at 212-964-0222 or call 518-463-5576. For other sources on low wage labor market issues, check www.buildingaladder.org and www.urban.org.

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