Workers https://www.morningsidecenter.org/ en Teachable Instant: Low-Wage Workers' Fight for 15 https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teachable-instant-low-wage-workers-fight-15 <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Teachable Instant: Low-Wage Workers&#039; Fight for 15</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p>Ask the class what the slogan Fight for 15 means. Does it mean:</p> <p>a)&nbsp; lower the voting age to 15</p> <p>b) increase the size of soccer teams to 15</p> <p>c) at least 15 minutes recess for students in all grades</p> <p>d) 15 additional words allowed on Twitter</p> <p>e) none of the above</p> <p>Answer: None of the above. Fight for 15 refers to the nationwide movement to increase the hourly pay of low-wage workers to $15 per hour.</p> <hr> <h4>In the News</h4> <p>On April 15, 2015, low-wage workers across America will go on strike and demonstrate for increasing their pay to $15/hour. Worker organizations supporting the wage increase have been joined by a growing number of unions, civil rights groups, religious institutions and sympathetic individuals.</p> <p>Some opponents of a higher minimum wage argue that it will force businesses to cut jobs. (However, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office recently projected that a $10.10 minimum wage, which President Obama has proposed, would lead to only a slight decrease in jobs.) &nbsp;Opponents also say that raising the minimum wage will lead to higher prices that will hurt low-income people the most.</p> <p>Nevertheless, support for increasing workers' wages is growing. The movement to raise wages, which had been building slowly over the last decade, has recently picked up steam. &nbsp;Instead of fighting individual battles in each low-wage industry (fast food, hospitality, childcare, retail, etc.), workers and their allies have joined forces to press for a larger share of the economic pie. While Congress has been unable to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25/hour, the fight has been carried successfully to many states and cities.</p> <p>Among the recent successes:</p> <ul> <li>Some of the country's largest employers like Walmart, Target, McDonalds, the Gap, TJ Maxx and Starbucks have all recently announced wage hikes for their minimum-wage employees.</li> <li>In every state where minimum wage hikes were on the ballot in 2014, voters approved the increase. Notably, this included such conservative states as Alaska, South Dakota, Nebraska and Arkansas.</li> <li>Some&nbsp; cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and&nbsp; Oakland, have raised the minimum wage to $12 to $15 per hour.</li> <li>Public opinion (as measured by opinion polls) is strongly in favor of raising the minimum wage.</li> </ul> <p>Groups fighting for $15 per hour have viewed the increases as (at best) steps in the right direction. McDonalds workers, for example, point out that their wage increase only affects the employees at McDonalds-<em>owned </em>restaurants--not at the 90% of McDonalds that are owned independently. Even the highest minimum wage, in Seattle, won't apply to all businesses until 2021.</p> <hr> <h4>Quiz: What do Americans think?</h4> <p>Ask students to take this quiz on what the American people think about government action to reduce the expanding gap between rich and poor.</p> <p><strong>1.</strong> &nbsp;True or False: A majority of Americans believe that the government should do something to reduce the gap between the rich and "everyone else."&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>(Answer: True. 43% say "a lot" and 26% say "some" action.)</p> <p><strong>2, </strong>&nbsp;What percentage of Republicans favor raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour?</p> <p>a) 19%</p> <p>b) 38.2%</p> <p>c) 53%</p> <p>d) 87%</p> <p>(Answer: C, 53%, or 73% of all Americans)</p> <p><strong>3. </strong>&nbsp;What percentage of Americans favor automatically raising the minimum wage to account for annual inflation?</p> <p>a) 19%</p> <p>b) 40.1%</p> <p>c) 66%</p> <p>d) 82%</p> <p>(Answer: D, 82%)</p> <hr> <h4><br> For discussion</h4> <p><strong>1.&nbsp;</strong> Put yourself in the place of a low-wage worker who is considering whether to strike on April 15. What might make you decide to strike? What might make you decide not to?&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>2.&nbsp;</strong> What effect does public opinion have on corporations raising wages or on governments raising minimum wages?</p> <p><strong>3.&nbsp; </strong>Should fairness play a part in setting wage structures? The movement for raising wages often cites "fairness" in its public appeals: Is it fair for corporate CEOs to receive tens of millions of dollars in compensation when many of the company's workers get minimum wage? Is it fair for corporations that are making large profits to deny their lowest-paid workers a share in the profit? Is it fair for a society to require a parent to work two or three jobs to support a family?&nbsp; &nbsp;What do you think about these arguments?</p> <p><strong>4.&nbsp; </strong>What is the role of government in making sure that wages are enough so that people can afford basic necessities like food, shelter and healthcare?</p> <hr> <h4>Optional activity</h4> <p>Break the class into groups of four or five students. Have each group read one article arguing against raising the minimum wage, and another arguing for it.&nbsp; Then ask the group to discuss the merits of each argument against raising the minimum wage. If there is time, have students from each group report back to the class on the key arguments pro and con.</p> <p>Articles against raising the wage:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/feeling-the-pain-of-a-12-25-minimum-wage">http://www.cbsnews.com/news/feeling-the-pain-of-a-12-25-minimum-wage</a></li> <li>http://www.republicanreader.com/15-reasons-raising-minimum-wage-is-bad/&nbsp;(no longer active)</li> </ul> <p>Articles for raising the wage:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://robertreich.org/post/82134788482">http://robertreich.org/post/82134788482</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/top-ten-arguments-for-rai_b_6879220.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/top-ten-arguments-for-rai_b_6879220.html</a>?</li> </ul> <hr> <h4>Sources:</h4> <p><a href="http://www.people-press.org/2014/01/23/most-see-inequality-growing-but-partisans-differ-over-solutions/">http://www.people-press.org/2014/01/23/most-see-inequality-growing-but-p...</a></p> <p>http://www.raisetheminimumwage.com/pages/polling&nbsp;(no longer active)</p> <p><a href="https://raisetheminimumwage.com/minimum-wage-state/?mode=state&amp;active_dataset=current%20minimum%20wage">https://raisetheminimumwage.com/minimum-wage-state/?mode=state&amp;active_dataset=current%20minimum%20wage</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/minimum-wage-hikes-where-voters-gave-themselves-raise-n241616">http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/minimum-wage-hikes-where-v...</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-protests-mcdonalds-minimum-wage-20150402-story.html">http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-protests-mcdonalds-minimum-wage-20...</a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-04-12T10:24:18-04:00" title="Sunday, April 12, 2015 - 10:24">April 12, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sun, 12 Apr 2015 14:24:18 +0000 fionta 468 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Teachable Instant: Walmart Pay Hike https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/teachable-instant-walmart-pay-hike <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Teachable Instant: Walmart Pay Hike</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4>News&nbsp;</h4> <p>On February 19, 2015, Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, announced that it was raising wages for 500,000 of its 1.4 million workers. The new base rate will be $9 per hour. The average wage for part-time workers (including for those who have worked there for years) will go up from $9.48 to $10 per hour. The average wage for full-time employees will go from $12.85 per hour to $13. Walmart defines "full-time" as 34 hours or more per week.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Question</h4> <p>Here's a math question: &nbsp;If you work 34 hours per week at Walmart at their new starting salary, how much will you make in a year?</p> <p>a) $34,000<br> b) $30,600<br> c) $15,912<br> d) less than $10,000</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Fact&nbsp;</h4> <p>You would earn $15,912. While this increase is good news for many Walmart employees, even this higher salary will not put you over the poverty line if you are supporting at least one other person. For a family of two, you would need to make $15,930; a family of three, $20,090; a family of four, $24,250.</p> <p>Every year Walmart workers need over $6 billion in government aid (including food stamps, Medicaid and subsidized housing) to get by.<br> &nbsp;</p> <h4>Possible reasons for the wage increase</h4> <p>Walmart's CEO Doug McMillon explained that "We want associates who are so excited about taking care of customers, thanking them for shopping with us, things like that, that’s got to show up in sales. Won’t happen immediately, but it will happen."<br> &nbsp;<br> There may be other reasons why Walmart decided to raise their workers' pay, including:</p> <ul> <li>Walmart employees have been waging a high-profile campaign to force the company to raise wages to a "livable wage." The mini-strikes, boycotts, demonstrations and community support have resulted in bad PR for the company.</li> <li>Increased public discussion of the "wealth gap" has publicized the fact that the Walton family (which owns Walmart) owns more wealth than the bottom 48.8 million U.S. families combined (about 41% of Americans).</li> <li>Many states and cities have already raised the minimum wage above $9/hour.</li> <li>Much of the increased wages is expected to return to Walmart in sales from those same employees.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <h4><br> Questions for discussion&nbsp;</h4> <p>1.&nbsp; Does Congress need to raise the federal minimum wage if some businesses are already raising their own minimum pay?<br> &nbsp;<br> 2. Should "fairness" enter into a company's decision to set wages?<br> &nbsp;<br> 3. Should consumers take a corporation's labor policies into account when deciding where to shop, or simply choose the cheapest stores?<br> &nbsp;<br> 4. Is it the government's business how a business treats its employees?&nbsp;</p> <h4>&nbsp;<br> Optional assignments&nbsp;</h4> <ul> <li>Write a short paragraph on the importance of Walmart's decision. Is it newsworthy?</li> <li>Write a paragraph in response to this question: Do you take a company’s labor policies into account when you are deciding where to shop? Why or why not?</li> <li>Create a household budget for a family of four living in your area. Estimate costs for such basics as housing, food, healthcare, transportation and clothing. See how your budget compares to the federal poverty level. Compare your budget to that created by the <a href="http://www.epi.org/resources/budget/">Economic Policy Institute</a></li> </ul> <h4>&nbsp;<br> Sources</h4> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-glee-over-walmarts-raise-20150219-column.html">http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-glee-over-walmarts-raise-20150219-column.html</a></li> <li><a href="http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/15poverty.cfm">http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/15poverty.cfm</a></li> <li><a href="http://blog.walmart.com/in-letter-to-associates-walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-announces-higher-pay">http://blog.walmart.com/in-letter-to-associates-walmart-ceo-doug-mcmillon-announces-higher-pay</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/us-walmartstores-results-idUSKBN0LN1BD20150219">http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/us-walmartstores-results-idUSKBN0LN1BD20150219</a></li> <li><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/02/19/3624818/walmart-minimum-wage-sales/">http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/02/19/3624818/walmart-minimum-wage-sales/</a><br> &nbsp;</li> </ul> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2015-02-21T08:06:47-05:00" title="Saturday, February 21, 2015 - 08:06">February 21, 2015</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Sat, 21 Feb 2015 13:06:47 +0000 fionta 482 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Our Food, Their Struggle: Farmworker Organizing https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/our-food-their-struggle-farmworker-organizing <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Our Food, Their Struggle: Farmworker Organizing</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4><strong>To the Teacher:&nbsp;</strong></h4> <div>Many people have begun to look for organic or locally grown food in the grocery store or restaurant. But how often do we consider those who work to bring us our food?&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Farmworkers working in the fields in California, Florida, Texas, and other states (and countries) are a critical component of the food chain that provides us with the fruits and vegetables that we eat. However, millions of farmworkers are paid poverty-level wages and labor under difficult and often exploitative conditions. The abuses faced by these workers were made famous by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the 1960s. Although the UFW's efforts resulted in some improvements, migrant farmworkers still face injustice today, so they continue to organize for better conditions. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>This lesson consists of two readings. The first reading gives an overview of some the conditions facing farmworkers in the United States. The second reading profiles the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an organization working to improve conditions for farmworkers today. Questions for discussion follow each reading.</div> <div><br> &nbsp;</div> <div> <hr> <h4>Student Reading 1:</h4> </div> <h3>Exploitation in the Fields</h3> <div>Many people have begun to look for organic or locally grown food in the grocery store or restaurant. But how often do we consider those who work to bring us our food?&nbsp;</div> <div><br> Immigrant farmworkers working in the fields in California, Florida, Texas, and other states (and countries) are a critical component of the food chain that provides us with the fruits and vegetables that we eat. However, millions of farmworkers are paid poverty-level wages and labor under difficult and often exploitative conditions. The abuses faced by these workers were made famous by Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the 1960s. Although the UFW's efforts resulted in some improvements, migrant farmworkers still face injustice today, so they continue to organize for better conditions. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><a href="http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/about-farmworker-justice/who-we-serve">Farmworker Justice</a>, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving conditions of farmworkers through government lobbying and legal defense, describes some of the demographics of those who work in the fields:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">An estimated 2 million farmworkers work on farms and ranches in the United States. Including farmworkers' spouses and children, there are roughly 4.5 million farmworkers and family members in the U.S. The large majority of farmworkers are immigrants, and the majority of those immigrants (53%) lack authorized immigration status under current U.S. laws.&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">According to the most recent report of the Department of Labor's National Agricultural Workers Survey (from 2001-02):</div> <ul> <li class="rteindent1">Foreign-born workers make up 78% of the workforce</li> <li class="rteindent1">United States citizens make up 25% of the workforce</li> <li class="rteindent1">Legal permanent residents make up 21% of the workforce</li> </ul> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">In general, education and literacy among farmworkers are limited. On average, 7th grade is the limit of farmworkers' formal education.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Farmworker Justice goes on to <a href="http://www.farmworkerjustice.org/about-farmworker-justice/who-we-serve">describe</a> the socioeconomic difficulties faced by agricultural employees:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Farmworker communities generally deal with a high level of poverty; few farmworkers have employment benefits or access to unemployment benefits. According to data from 2001-2002:</div> <ul> <li class="rteindent1">At least 30% of farmworkers earned wages placing them below the poverty line</li> <li class="rteindent1">Annual income for an individual was roughly $10,000 - $12,500</li> <li class="rteindent1">Annual income for farmworker families was roughly $15,000 - $17,500</li> <li class="rteindent1">The average hourly wage was $7.25.</li> </ul> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Most farmworkers do not receive much needed benefits like sick leave, paid vacation or health insurance. Because many agricultural employers are exempt from unemployment taxes, many farmworkers are not eligible for unemployment benefits even though they perform jobs that are seasonal and intermittent.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Despite the high level of poverty, most farmworkers do not receive any public benefits. In 2001-2002, only 8% of farmworkers received food stamps, 11% received WIC (a supplemental nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children) and 15% received Medicaid.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>One farmworker, 40-year-old Odilia Chavez of Madera, California, provided a first-hand account of her experience in the fields. Chavez was quoted in a November 6, 2013, article for a <em><a href="http://modernfarmer.com/2013/11/farmworker-confessional/">Modern Farmer</a></em> magazine article by Lauren Smiley. Chavez stated:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">I'd never worked in a field. It was really hard at first — working outdoors with the heat, the daily routine. But I've certainly learned. In a typical year, I prune grapevines starting in April, and pick cherries around Madera in May. I travel to Oregon in June to pick strawberries, blueberries and blackberries on a farm owned by Russians. I take my 14-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son with me while they're on their summer break. They play with the other kids, and bring me water and food in the field. We'll live in a boarding house with 25 rooms for some 100 people, and everyone lines up to use the bathrooms. My kids and I share a room for $270 a month.</div> <div class="rteindent1">...</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">You come home really tired. I'll come home, take a shower, put lotion on my hot feet, and be ready for the next day. I'm usually in bed by 9:00 to get up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning to make and pack some tacos for the day. Also, undocumented workers don't have any medical insurance — so the majority of us just buy over-the-counter pills for any problems. Luckily, I haven't had many health issues yet.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Organizing seasonal migrant workers to improve conditions in the fields has been a notoriously difficult task. Perhaps the most famous and successful organizing drive began in 1962, when Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later became the United Farm Workers (UFW). &nbsp;Chavez had grown up in a family of migrant farmworkers. He left school in the seventh grade and went to work in the fields full-time so that his mother wouldn't have to. After years of picking peas, lettuce, cherries, beans, corn, grapes and cotton, Chavez joined Huerta, a young civil rights activist, in creating the NFWA, whose aim was to improve the lives of farmworkers. &nbsp;</div> <div>Rick Tejada-Flores, director of the 1997 documentary <em>Fight in the Fields</em>, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/itvs/fightfields/cesarchavez1.html">summarizes</a> the emergence and success of the NFWA:&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">From 1962 to 1965 Cesar Chavez and a small group of organizers traveled up and down California's agricultural valleys, talking to people, holding house meetings, helping with problems, and inviting farmworkers to join their new organization. They didn't call the National Farmworkers Association a labor union, because people had such bad memories of lost strikes and unfulfilled promises. It was a slow and tedious process.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Everything changed on September 8, 1965. On that day another farmworker group, the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), struck the Delano table grape growers. Most of AWOC's members were Filipinos who had come to the U.S. during the 1930s.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">One week later the NFWA voted to join the strike. Among the joint leadership were Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and Gilbert Padilla from NFWA, and Larry Itliong, Andy Imutan and Philip Veracruz from AWOC...</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">The farmworkers wanted people to see their strike as something bigger and more dramatic — a battle for justice and human dignity. It became the cause,<em> la causa!</em> The strikers reached out to church groups and student activists. Both had been drawn to the civil rights struggles in the South, and both responded to the "David vs. Goliath" battle taking place in Delano. The public was also attracted to the farmworkers commitment to non-violence. Chavez saw non-violence as both a moral principle and a tactic. Under his leadership, the farmworkers movement would adopt non-violence as its guiding philosophy...</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">By 1967 farmworkers were enlisting consumers in their battle. When the Giumarra Corporation tried to disguise their shipments by using other grape growers' labels, the farmworkers began a national boycott of all table grapes. Striking farmworkers spread out across the country, forging alliances with students, churches, and consumers and other union members to try to stop the sale of grapes...</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">At its height, more than 14 million Americans helped by not buying grapes. The pressure was irresistible, and the Delano growers signed historic contracts with UFWOC in 1969.&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">What had the farmworkers won? There was an end to the abusive system of labor contracting. Instead jobs would be assigned by a hiring hall, with guaranteed seniority and hiring rights. The contracts protected workers from exposure to the dangerous pesticides that are widely used in agriculture. There was an immediate rise in wages, and fresh water and toilets provided in the fields. The contracts provided for a medical plan, and clinics were built in Delano, Salinas and Coachella.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The UFW was able to make considerable gains for farmworkers in the 1960s and 70s. However, immigrant farmworkers continue to be one of the most vulnerable populations of working people in the country, and conditions in the fields remain harsh.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <h4>For Discussion:&nbsp;</h4> <div><strong>1.</strong> Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>2. </strong>How would you describe the working and living conditions that farmworkers typically face?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>3.</strong> Why might it be difficult to organize migrant farmworkers? What are some of the factors that might inhibit collective action within this group?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>4.</strong> What were some of the strategies that the UFW used to push for change?&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>5. </strong>What tangible gains were the United Farm Workers able to achieve?&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <hr> <h4>Student Reading 2:</h4> </div> <h3>Farmworkers Rallying for Justice: The Case of the Immokalee Workers</h3> <div>Farmworkers in different parts of the country continue to organize to improve working conditions for those in the fields.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>One of the most visible and successful campaigns to emerge in the past decade has been led by the Coalition of Immokalee Worker (CIW), a group of farmworkers &nbsp;and activists based in Southern Florida. The CIW has spearheaded the Campaign for Fair Food, which lobbies major corporations to improve pay for workers, investigate worker complaints, and buy only from growers who comply with a program of improved labor standards.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>In an April 24, 2014 <em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/business/in-florida-tomato-fields-a-penny-buys-progress.html?_r=2">New York Times</a></em> article, labor and workplace reporter Steven Greenhouse highlights the CIW's remarkable successes:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">By enlisting the might of major restaurant chains and retailers — including Walmart, which signed on this year — the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has pressured growers that produce 90 percent of Florida's tomatoes to increase wages for their 30,000 workers and follow strict standards that mandate rest breaks and forbid sexual harassment and verbal abuse...</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">So far, the agreements between retailers and growers are limited to Florida's tomato fields, which in itself is no small feat considering that the state produces 90 percent of the country's winter tomatoes.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">But gaining the heft and reach of Walmart — which sells 20 percent of the nation's fresh tomatoes year-round — may prove far more influential. To the applause of farmworkers' advocates, the retailer has agreed to extend the program's standards and monitoring to its tomato suppliers in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia and elsewhere on the Eastern Seaboard. Walmart officials say they also hope to apply the standards to apple orchards in Michigan and Washington and strawberry fields in many states.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">"This is the best workplace-monitoring program I've seen in the U.S.," said Janice R. Fine, a labor relations professor at Rutgers. "It can certainly be a model for agriculture across the U.S. If anybody is going to lead the way and teach people how it's done, it's [the CIW]."</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Since the program's inception, its system of inspections and decisions issued by a former judge has resulted in suspensions for several growers, including one that failed to adopt a payroll system to ensure pickers were paid for all the time they worked...</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Amassing all these company partnerships took time. The workers' coalition organized a four-year boycott of Taco Bell to get its parent company, Yum Brands, to agree in 2005 to pay an extra penny a pound for tomatoes, helping increase workers' wages. In 2007 the coalition sponsored a march to Burger King's headquarters in Miami, pushing that company to join the effort. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Chipotle and Subway have also signed on.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Although the CIW started without a large membership, over the years it has swelled its ranks through several aggressive organizing campaigns. As the organization <a href="http://ciw-online.org/about/">explains</a> on its website:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">The CIW began organizing in 1993 as a small group of workers meeting weekly in a room borrowed from a local church to discuss how to better their community and their lives... &nbsp;Combining three community-wide work stoppages with intense public pressure - including an unprecedented month-long hunger strike by six members in 1998 and an historic 234-mile march from Ft. Myers to Orlando in 2000 - the CIW's early organizing ended over twenty years of declining wages in the tomato industry.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">By 1998, farmworkers had won industry-wide raises of 13-25% (translating into several million dollars annually for the community in increased wages) and a newfound political and social respect from the outside world. Those raises brought the tomato picking piece rate back to pre-1980 levels (the piece rate had fallen below those levels over the course of the intervening two decades), but wages remained below poverty level and continuing improvement was slow in coming.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">While continuing to organize for fairer wages, the CIW also turned its attention to attacking involuntary servitude. Over the past 15 years, 9 major investigations and federal prosecutions have freed over 1,200 Florida farmworkers from captivity and forced labor, leading one US Attorney to call these fields "ground zero for modern slavery."</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">The CIW was key in the discovery, investigation, and prosecution of seven of those operations. Through these efforts, they helped pioneer anti-trafficking work in the US, contributing to the formation of the Department of Justice Anti-Trafficking Unit and the passage of the landmark Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000.&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">In 2001, having won some wage increases for Florida tomato pickers and investigated some of the country's earliest cases of modern-day slavery, the CIW did a deep analysis of the industry to understand where the power to make true systemic change resided. It became clear that the corporate food industry as a whole - companies such as current campaign targets Kroger, Publix, and Ahold USA &nbsp;- purchased a tremendous volume of fruits and vegetables, leveraging its buying power to demand the lowest possible prices from its suppliers, in turn exerting a powerful downward pressure on wages and working conditions in these suppliers' operations.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The CIW is currently engaged in a two-year campaign targeting Wendy's in an effort to get the fast food giant to meet the demands of the Campaign for Fair Food. <a href="https://ciw-online.org/blog/tag/just-harvest-usa/">Just Harvest USA</a>, an organization that works in coalition with the CIW and other labor rights organizations, explains the campaign:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Of the five largest fast food corporations in the country -- McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell (Yum! Brands), and Wendy's -- Wendy's stands alone as the only one who has refused to join the Fair Food Program and respect the rights and dignity of farmworkers in its supply chain.&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">Wendy's is one of the very largest buyers of tomatoes in the restaurant industry, an industry that for decades purchased low cost tomatoes whose harvest relied on the exploitation of workers. Given its market power, Wendy's has not only an opportunity, but an obligation to work with the tomato industry to be part of the solution to Florida's longstanding history of farmworker abuse and poverty: the Fair Food Program.</div> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;</div> <div class="rteindent1">As Wendy's positions itself to implement sustainable business practices and promote its sourcing of "honest ingredients," it must realize that respect for human rights and worker participation are integral components of the genuine sustainability that today's consumers expect and demand.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Farmworker advocates are calling on consumers to contact Wendy's to tell the company to participate with the Campaign for Fair Food.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The CIW has achieved past gains in large part through its ability to engage the public in support of its campaigns, with sympathetic consumers signing petitions, expressing their concerns to corporations, and attending public demonstrations.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <h4>For Discussion:&nbsp;</h4> <div><strong>1.</strong> Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>2. </strong>According to the reading, what are some of the demands of the Campaign for Fair Food?&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>3. </strong>What are some of the CIW's past achievements? What is the nature of their current campaign?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <hr> <h4><br> Considering activism:<br> Small and whole-group discussion</h4> </div> <div>Ask students to break into groups of 3 to 5. &nbsp;Give students in each group five minutes to discuss each of the questions below.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>1. </strong>&nbsp;Are you concerned about the working conditions of people who produce the fruits and vegetables you eat? Why or why not?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>2.</strong> What do you think could be done to permanently improve conditions for farmworkers?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><strong>3. </strong>&nbsp;Should our class consider taking some action to support farmworker organizing or support improved conditions for farmworkers in some other way? If so, what could we do?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Reconvene the whole class and ask the groups to report on their discussion. &nbsp;If there is interest, support the class in taking action in support of farmworkers. &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em>-- Research assistance provided by Yessenia Gutierrez.</em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2014-06-11T12:15:44-04:00" title="Wednesday, June 11, 2014 - 12:15">June 11, 2014</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Wed, 11 Jun 2014 16:15:44 +0000 fionta 531 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org MLK Day Activity: Organizing to End Poverty, Then and Now https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/mlk-day-activity-organizing-end-poverty-then-and-now <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>MLK Day Activity: Organizing to End Poverty, Then and Now</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><p><strong>To the teacher: &nbsp;</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> This lesson focuses on a less well-known part of Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy, but one that is extremely relevant today: the Poor People's Campaign that Dr. King led over 40 years ago. The lesson links this campaign to current struggles to combat poverty in the US, including efforts by workers at fast food restaurants, Wal-Mart, and others to substantially increase their wages and those of millions of other Americans by raising the federal minimum wage.<br> &nbsp;<br> Poverty has been in the news lately, with President Obama urging Congress to restore unemployment benefits and the 50-year anniversary of the Johnson administration's "War on Poverty." Johnson and his allies, spurred by civil rights and other organizers, pushed initiatives ranging from Head Start and the Job Corps to Medicare and food stamps. In his 1964 State of the Union address, Johnson said his aim was "not only to relieve the symptoms of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it."<br> &nbsp;<br> Unfortunately, we are still combating poverty today, 50 years later. <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/07/28/americans-poverty-no-work/2594203/">Evidence suggests</a> that four out of five American adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives.&nbsp; And so, a struggle that Dr. King helped lead continues today.<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>Gathering</h4> <p><strong>Read the following quote out loud:</strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <blockquote> <p>"America is at a crossroads of history, and it is critically important for us as a nation and a society to choose a new path and move upon it with resolution and courage... In this age of technological wizardry and political immorality, the poor are demanding that the basic needs of people be met as the first priority of our domestic program."</p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;<br> Ask students if they know who might have said this and have them explain why.&nbsp; After taking some student responses, reveal that these words were spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King over 40 years ago.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask student how this quote relates to our situation today: How relevant is King's call today?&nbsp;<br> What do we know about poverty in the U.S. now?<br> &nbsp;<br> Summarize what students share and provide them with some information about current poverty in the US today using these quotes:<br> &nbsp;<br> "Contrary to popular belief, the <a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/02/poverty-in-america-is-mainstream/?_r=0">percentage of the population</a> that directly encounters poverty [today] is exceedingly high. ...Poverty is a mainstream event experienced by a majority of Americans. For most of us, the question is not whether we will experience poverty, but when."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> "<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/80-percent-of-us-adults-face-near-poverty-unemployment-survey-finds/">Four out of 5</a> U.S. adults struggle with joblessness, near-poverty or reliance on welfare for at least parts of their lives, a sign of deteriorating economic security and an elusive American dream.&nbsp; Survey data exclusive to the Associated Press points to an increasingly globalized U.S. economy, the widening gap between rich and poor, and the loss of good-paying manufacturing jobs as reasons for the trend."<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Tell students that in today's lesson, we'll learn about growing popular movements to fight poverty in America - and about the anti-poverty movement that Dr. King helped lead decades ago.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>In the Spirit of Dr. King<span style="font-size: 12px;">&nbsp;</span></h4> <p>Before we begin our exploration, let's take pause and note that every third Monday in January is Martin Luther King Day.&nbsp; Ask students what they know about the man being honored this day.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Elicit and explain that Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister and civil rights activist, was one of the most influential leaders of his time.&nbsp; He is probably best known for his role in mobilizing large groups of people to advance racial desegregation and equal rights for all using nonviolent civil disobedience.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> What fewer people are aware of is that Dr. King spent the last months of his life organizing to address the problem of poverty.&nbsp; When he was killed on April 4, 1968, he was in Memphis, Tennessee. He was in that city to promote fair wages and union representation for Memphis sanitation workers and to mobilize a national movement to fight poverty.&nbsp; The Poor People's Campaign, which he organized with other civil rights leaders in early 1968, was to be a peaceful gathering of poor people from communities across the nation.&nbsp; They planned to march through Washington in the hopes of getting Congress to pass substantial anti-poverty legislation.<br> &nbsp;<br> Dr. King predicted that poverty would be much more difficult to address than earlier civil rights campaigns.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Ask students: Why do you think Dr. King thought this? Do you think he was right? Why or why not?</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>The Struggle Against Poverty Then and Now</h4> <p>Ask students to read&nbsp; <a href="#Handout1">Handout #1</a>.&nbsp; As they read about Dr. King's Poor People's Campaign, instruct them to look for and underline information about:</p> <ul> <li>why Dr. King started the Poor People's Campaign</li> <li>his methods</li> <li>who was involved</li> <li>the challenges</li> </ul> <p>OPTIONAL: <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nation/july-dec13/minimumwage_11-04.html">Video&nbsp;</a><br> Have students <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/nation/july-dec13/minimumwage_11-04.html">watch</a> this compelling 9-minute clip from PBS NewsHour. It follows fast food worker Shenita Simon, who is trying to support her family in Brooklyn, NY, with her $8 an hour job. Simon is also active in the movement to raise wages of fast food workers.&nbsp;Also see the<em>&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;</em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/nyregion/making-7-75-an-hour-and-figuring-theres-little-to-lose-by-speaking-out.html?_r=0">story</a> on low wage worker organizing that includes Simon.<br> &nbsp;</p> <p>Finally, ask students to read <a href="#Handout2">Handout #2</a>.&nbsp; As they read about today's struggle to raise wages and fight poverty, instruct them to look for and underline information about:</p> <ul> <li>why low-wage workers are protesting</li> <li>their methods</li> <li>who is involved</li> <li>the challenges</li> </ul> <p>&nbsp; &nbsp;<br> <strong>T-Chart Compare and Contrast</strong></p> <p>Split your class into groups of four or five students.&nbsp; Provide each with a sheet of flip chart paper and two different color markers. &nbsp;</p> <p>Instruct students to draw a T-chart on the paper, with the first column called The Poor People's Campaign and the second column, Combating Poverty Today.&nbsp; Then, based on what they underlined in the handouts, ask them to first chart the similarities between the approaches in the two readings. &nbsp;Encourage them to come up with as many similarities as possible.&nbsp; When they're done, tell them to create a second row in the chart for recording the differences between the two approaches, using a different color of marker.&nbsp; Again encourage students to come up with as many differences as possible.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Gallery Walk</strong></p> <p>Ask students to put their flipcharts up around the room.&nbsp; Then, ask students to walk around the room in silence, reading what is in the flipcharts of their peers.&nbsp; After a few minutes ask them to return to their seats and discuss:</p> <ol> <li> <p>What did you notice about what the different groups put on their charts?</p> </li> <li> <p>How are the campaigns back then and today similar?</p> </li> <li> <p>How are they different?</p> </li> <li> <p>Can you think of things today's movement might learn or borrow from King's Poor People's Campaign?</p> </li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>Closing</h4> <p>Have students turn to a partner to share one thing they learned today.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ask a few volunteers to share.&nbsp;</p> <p>Alternatively:<br> Ask students to reflect on the following:&nbsp; "The opposite of poverty is not wealth but justice."<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><strong><a id="Handout1" name="Handout1"></a>Handout# 1:</strong></p> <h4>The Poor People's Campaign of the 1960s</h4> <p>&nbsp;<br> Adapted from a segment from <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/king/b1.html">American Radio Works</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> In 1967, King spoke frequently about a "new phase" of the civil rights movement. It would focus on economic justice for poor people. While the civil rights movement had won the desegregation of public accommodations and broad new voting rights for black citizens, King said these victories had done little to vanquish one central problem: poverty.<br> &nbsp;<br> So long as black people remained poor, they would never really be free, King declared. He felt it was his job to steer the movement in a new direction.<br> &nbsp;<br> King predicted that attacking poverty would be much more difficult than earlier civil rights campaigns.&nbsp; "We aren't merely struggling to integrate a lunch counter now," he said. "We're struggling to get some money to be able to buy a hamburger or a steak when we get to the counter."<br> &nbsp;<br> What was ultimately needed, King said, was "a radical redistribution of economic and political power.&nbsp; King's right-wing critics had long been calling him a communist. King knew his demand for the redistribution of wealth would draw their fire.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> The idea for The Poor People's Campaign came from a young civil rights lawyer who worked with poor people in Mississippi, Marian Wright Edelman. Edelman had recently taken New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy to Mississippi to meet some of the nation's poorest citizens face to face. Kennedy told Edelman she ought to bring poor people to Washington to push for action to address poverty. When Edelman told this to King, he loved the idea.</p> <p>On December 4, 1967, King announced the Poor People's Campaign to the press.&nbsp; He said:</p> <blockquote> <p>The Southern Christian Leadership Conference will lead waves of the nation's poor and disinherited to Washington, D.C. next spring to demand redress of their grievances by the United States government and to secure at least jobs or income for all. We will go there, we will demand to be heard and we will stay until America responds. If this means forcible repression of our movement, we will confront it, for we have done this before. If this means scorn or ridicule, we embrace it, for that is what America's poor now receive. If it means jail, we accept it willingly, for the millions of poor already are imprisoned by exploitation and discrimination. ... In short, we will be petitioning our government for specific reforms and we intend to build militant, nonviolent actions until that government moves against poverty. ...</p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;<br> Excerpted from CNN's <a href="http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/16/kings-final-message-poverty-is-a-civil-rights-battle/">In America</a></p> <p>&nbsp;<br> The Poor People's Campaign reached out to poor whites, many of whom felt most threatened by the civil rights movement's successes in black equality, as well as impoverished migrant farm workers who harvested the nation's food and Native Americans who languished on reservations. Injustice anywhere, King said, was a threat to justice everywhere.<br> &nbsp;<br> In a speech in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, less than a month before his assassination, King said:&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <blockquote> <p>"The problem of unemployment is not the only problem.&nbsp; There is a problem of underemployment, and there are thousands and thousands, I would say millions of people in the Negro community who are poverty-stricken - not because they are not working, but because they receive wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the main stream of the economic life of our nation. Most of the poverty-stricken people of America are persons who are working every day, and they end up getting part-time wages for full-time work."&nbsp;</p> </blockquote> <p>&nbsp;<br> King died before the Poor People's Campaign could form a list of specific goals. But he planned for a march from across the country to convene in Washington, D.C., meet with officials and demand jobs, fair wages, better education and unemployment benefits.<br> &nbsp;<br> For six weeks in May and June 1968, thousands of poor people camped on the National Mall in Washington, calling for jobs and living wages, among other things.&nbsp; They did not conduct massive civil disobedience, as King had earlier advocated. However they did did win some concessions from the federal government. Although the campaign carried on with help from King's deputies, it faltered without his leadership.<br> &nbsp;<br> At the time of his death, King was pushing an idea that might be considered among his most radical: Not only should poverty be eradicated, he argued, but everyone should be guaranteed an income that would prevent them from falling into poverty.<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><strong><a id="Handout2" name="Handout2"></a>Handout #2:</strong></p> <h4>Today's Struggle by Low-Wage Workers</h4> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>A ‘Titanic year' for low-wage workers</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> Over the past year, workers in some of America's lowest-paying industries have gone on strike in unprecedented numbers. Fast food workers in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/the-biggest-fast-food-strike-yet">over 100 cities</a>&nbsp;have walked off the job, demanding a base wage of $15 per hour and the right to form a union. Wal-Mart workers&nbsp;<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/black-friday-poses-key-test">pushed ahead</a>&nbsp;in their campaign against the world's largest private employer, winning some positive media coverage and a favorable ruling from the National Labor Relations Board.</p> <p>Meanwhile, low-wage, federally contracted workers attracted the support&nbsp;<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/how-one-stroke-the-pen-could-lift-wages">of over 60 sitting members of Congress</a>, and campaigns across the country for a higher minimum wage won&nbsp;<a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/washington-dc-minimum-wage-hike">substantive results</a>. Reports <a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/how-one-stroke-the-pen-could-lift-wages">MSNBC</a>:&nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">Courtney Shackleford is one of two entry-level employees at the Ben and Jerry's in Washington, D.C.,'s Union Station, where she makes $8.25 an hour. Like many workers in America's growing low-wage economy, she struggles to make ends meet: Between her pregnancy and her tuition fees at Trinity Washington University, Shackleford doesn't make enough to cover basic expenses.&nbsp;.... <p>But Shackleford isn't just a low-wage worker: She's a low-wage worker whose employer happens to have a contract with the United States government. Because the Ben and Jerry's that she works at is located in a federally-owned building, the federal government has broad latitude to determine how employees there are treated. On Thursday, Shackleford and about 175 other federally contracted workers are going on strike, rallying outside the White House, and asking the president to exercise that authority.</p> <p>Roughly 2 million low wage employees—defined as employees who make $12 or less per hour—work for companies with government contracts or other forms of government funding, according to a report from the think tank Demos. For several months, Washington-based workers who fit that description have been organizing under the banner of the labor group Good Jobs Nation, in the hopes that they can push President Obama to sign an executive order which would increase their pay." &nbsp;</p> </div> <p>&nbsp;<br> "This year was titanic," said Kendall Fells, organizing director for the fast food workers' group Fast Food Forward. "People that were optimistic about this campaign, even that very small group of people got blown out of the water."<br> &nbsp;<strong><u>(Ned Resnikoff,&nbsp;</u><a href="http://www.msnbc.com/all/will-2014-be-the-year-unions-revived">MSNBC</a>)</strong>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Civil&nbsp; disobedience at Wal-Mart&nbsp;</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> (November 3, 2013) "This Thursday hundreds of people will begin a process of trying to waken Wal-Mart from its slumbers—from its denial of the welfare and dignity of the hundreds of thousands of its workers who are paid poverty wages. .. At this demonstration, almost 100 women and men—and I among them—will be committing an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in order to rouse people and bring attention to the hidden violence of Wal-Mart's practice. ... Impoverishment, especially in the form of full time work which does not pay enough to feed one's family or keep shelter over one's head, is a violent act."<br> <strong><a href="http://www.justice-in-the-city.com/?p=612">Blog</a> by Aryeh Cohen&nbsp;</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> In the last year, Wal-Mart employees themselves have been increasingly vocal in protesting their low pay. Since the last holiday season, Wal-Mart employees in stores throughout the country have repeatedly spoken out in pursuit of a modest wage goal: the equivalent of $25,000 a year in wages for a full-time employee."<br> <strong><a href="http://www.demos.org/catherine-ruetschlin">Catherine Ruetschlin</a>&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;<a href="http://www.demos.org/Amy-M-Traub">Amy Traub</a>&nbsp;on <a href="http://www.demos.org/publication/higher-wage-possible">Demos</a></strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Fast Food Forward fights for higher minimum wage</strong><br> &nbsp;<br> (December 5, 2013)&nbsp; Demonstrators gathered outside fast-food restaurants in 100 cities Thursday, campaigning for a $15 an hour wage and the right to unionize.&nbsp; The series of daylong mini-strikes were coordinated by Fast Food Forward, an advocacy group that said it is making progress advancing the message that higher wages for fast-food workers will have an overall benefit for the American economy.&nbsp;The visible participation of organized labor in the fast-food demonstrations, which came a year after some&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/business/fast-food-workers-nyc-flex-their-muscle-better-pay-1C7333668">New York City workers walked off the job</a>, pointed to shifting age demographics in the country's pool of low-wage laborers.<br> &nbsp;<br> "This movement is really growing in a way unlike anything we've seen with worker organizing in the last several decades," said Jack Temple, policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project.<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>Martha C. White, <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/business/fast-food-wage-protests-highlight-shift-economy-2D11702018">NBC News</a>&nbsp;</strong>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2014-01-13T11:02:03-05:00" title="Monday, January 13, 2014 - 11:02">January 13, 2014</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Mon, 13 Jan 2014 16:02:03 +0000 fionta 555 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Should Fast Food Workers Get a Raise? https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/should-fast-food-workers-get-raise <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Should Fast Food Workers Get a Raise?</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4><br> To the Teacher:&nbsp;</h4> <p>Over the last year, employees at a number of fast food chains—including McDonald's and Burger King—have launched labor strikes in&nbsp;cities across the country. Workers are&nbsp;demanding improved wages, better conditions on the job, and an end to&nbsp;unfair treatment by management. If successful, the movement could mean&nbsp;sweeping changes for workers and for this whole sector of the US economy. The campaign has already succeeded in bringing to public light the&nbsp;real profiles of people who work in fast food&nbsp;restaurants and the difficulties they face. The strikes&nbsp;have also furthered a public discussion about what a fair federal minimum wage should be.</p> <p>This lesson is divided into two student readings. The first reading looks&nbsp;at the demographics and experiences of those who work at fast food restaurants and examines the rolling strikes by fast food chain workers over the last year.&nbsp;The second reading considers what consequences wage increases for fast food workers might have on consumers and the economy. Questions for discussion&nbsp;follow each reading.</p> <p><strong><em>Note:</em></strong> For further exploration, see our earlier lesson on this subject, <a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/fast-food-forward">Fast Food Forward</a>.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;</p> <hr> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4>Student Reading 1<br> Fast Food Workers: Who Are They and Why Are They Striking?</h4> <p>Over the last year, employees at a number of fast food chains—including McDonald's and Burger King—have launched labor strikes in&nbsp;cities across the country. Workers are&nbsp;demanding improved wages, better working conditions, and an end to&nbsp;unfair treatment by management.</p> <p>If successful, the movement could mean&nbsp;sweeping changes for workers and for this whole sector of the US economy. Historically, many people have thought of fast food workers as mostly teenagers, taking a temporary low-wage job on their way to something better (college or a better job). The current organizing campaign has already succeeded in bringing to public light the&nbsp;real profiles of people who work in fast food restaurants: While some fast food employees are indeed students working part-time, most aren't. Many fast food employees put in full-time hours; many support family members and themselves solely on their fast food wages.<br> &nbsp;<br> A first wave of fast food strikes began in November 2012 in several New York City restaurants. Smaller actions took place throughout the following year, leading up to a second wave of strikes that swept the country immediately before Labor Day, 2013. Fast food workers are seeking a significant pay raise as well as the right to organize into unions, as Gary Strauss of <em><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/29/fast-food-workers-strike-for-higher-pay-in-nearly-60-cities/2726815/">USA Today</a>&nbsp;</em>reported on August 30, 2013:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">Workers at McDonald's and other fast-food chains conducted strikes and walkouts in nearly 60 cities Thursday, hoping for super-size wage hikes that for many would boost their hourly pay to $15 from the current federal minimum $7.25.<br> &nbsp;<br> The pre-Labor Day protests, which follow a series of strikes that began last November in New York City, targeted fast-food chains including McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Yum Brands, whose chains include KFC and Taco Bell. Workers are also seeking the right to unionize.<br> &nbsp;<br> Strike organizers, a loose confederation of local community groups and churches which has received some financial and training support from the Service Employees International Union, say restaurants in Milwaukee, Detroit and St. Louis had to close, at least temporarily, because of employee walkouts...<br> &nbsp;<br> About 30 workers in Raleigh, N.C., picketed outside a Little Caesars. Julio Wilson said he earned $9 an hour at the pizza restaurant, not enough to support himself and his 5-year-old daughter.<br> &nbsp;<br> "I know I'm risking my job, but it's my right to fight for what I deserve," Wilson said. "Nine dollars an hour is not enough to make ends meet nowadays."</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> In response to the protests, fast food industry officials argue that the strikers' demands are unreasonable. They contend that the relatively small number of strikers do not speak for the millions of fast food workers, many of whom <em>are </em>students working part-time. As Chelsea B. Sheasley of the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2013/0829/Super-size-strike-Why-fast-food-workers-walked-out-for-higher-wages"><em>Christian Science Monitor</em> </a>reported on August 29, 2013:</p> <div class="rteindent1"><br> Officials at the National Restaurant Association say only 5 percent of restaurant employees earn the federal minimum wage and that 7 of 10 fast-food workers earning an entry-level wage are under the age of 25.&nbsp;Moreover, the number of strikers is also only a small percentage of the roughly 2.4 million fast-food workers in the&nbsp;United States, opponents say.<br> &nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <p>Furthermore, industry officials contend that while some workers earn "entry-level" wages, fast food chains offer opportunities for employees to climb the corporate ladder. "This industry is the embodiment of the American dream for many workers," said Justin Winslow, head of government affairs with the <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/29/fast-food-workers-strike-for-higher-pay-in-nearly-60-cities/2726815/">Michigan Restaurant Association</a>. "Eighty percent of restaurant owners started at the bottom and 90% of managers started in entry-level jobs. There's an obvious ladder to move up."<br> &nbsp;<br> Studies reveal that fast food workers are generally older and better educated than the popular perception of them suggests. As John Schmitt and Janelle Jones of the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/158683102/Slow-Progress-for-Fast-Food-Workers">Center for Economic and Policy Research</a> write in an August 2013 report:</p> <div class="rteindent1">&nbsp;<br> One argument frequently made against higher wages for fast-food workers is that the industry is dominated by teenagers and workers with less than a high school degree, who somehow "deserve" the low wages they receive. &nbsp;An analysis of government data on fast-food workers, however, tells a different story. First of all, only about 30 percent of fast-food workers are teenagers. Another 30 percent are between the ages of 20 and 24. The remaining 40 percent are 25 and older. (All the data we present here are from the government's Current Population Survey, where we have combined data for the years 2010 through 2012 in order to provide a large enough sample for analysis.) Half of fast-food workers are 23 or older. Many teenagers do work in fast-food, but the majority of fast-food workers are not teenagers.<br> &nbsp;<br> Given the age structure of fast-food workers, it shouldn't be surprising that the same government data show that more than one fourth are raising at least one child. Among those age 20 and older, more than one third are raising children.<br> &nbsp;<br> Over 70 percent of all fast-food workers have at least a high school degree and more than 30 percent have had at least some college education. If we limit the analysis to the 70 percent of fast-food workers that are not teenagers, the educational outcomes are even better: almost 85 percent have a high school degree or more and over one-third have spent at least sometime in college (including about 6 percent who have earned a college diploma).<br> &nbsp;<br> Despite the age structure and the educational attainment of fast-food workers, their wages are very low, even by today's depressed standards. If we look at straight wages—that is, excluding overtime, tips, bonuses, and commissions, all of which are rare in the fast-food industry—about 13 percent make at or below 1 the federal minimum wage... About 70 percent of fast-food workers fall in the range between the current $7.25 federal minimum wage and the $10.10 level proposed in legislation sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin and Representative George Miller. Less than 10 percent earn between $10.10 and $12.00 per hour; and fewer than one-in-twelve make more than $12 per hour.<br> &nbsp;<br> The wage structure for non-teenagers in the industry is almost identical to the overall distribution. Older workers in fast-food have little to show for their additional education, age, and experience.</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> If fast food workers succeed in their organizing, it could prove a boon not only for millions of fast food workers, but possibly for all of the low-wage employees in the country, as general wage standards rise. Regardless of the campaign's outcome, however, it has already succeeded in raising public awareness of the concerns and struggles of fast food workers.</p> <h4><strong>For Discussion:</strong></h4> <ol> <li>Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?</li> <li>According to the reading, what are striking fast food workers looking to achieve from the campaign?</li> <li>What is the popular perception of the people who make up the fast food workforce? How does the research on the industry dispute this perception?</li> <li>Do you know anyone who works in the fast food industry (or do you)? Does the job provide extra spending money, or is it the primary source of income?</li> <li>Do you think the strikers speak for a majority of fast food workers? Do you think their demands are legitimate? Why or why not?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4>Student Reading 2<br> Would You Pay More for a Big Mac to Support a "Supersized" Pay Raise?</h4> <p>Would you pay more for a Big Mac if it meant that fast food workers would receive better pay?<br> &nbsp;<br> As the rolling fast food restaurants have gained media attention, the campaign has highlighted questions about the economic impact of a big pay raise for fast food employees. While the current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 per hour, strikers are calling for an industry-wide standard of at least $15.00 per hour. Such a change could mean higher prices for consumers. However, people disagree about how great the impact would be.<br> &nbsp;<br> Fast food industry spokespeople claim that a significant wage boost would be extremely disruptive to the industry. As Gary Strauss of <em><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/29/fast-food-workers-strike-for-higher-pay-in-nearly-60-cities/2726815/">USA Today</a>&nbsp;</em>reported on August 30, 2013:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">Industry observers and representatives say a $15 hourly wage, which would boost annual salaries to about $31,200, would likely force most restaurants to pass on higher costs to customers, crimping already tepid sales and forcing employers to cut workers.<br> &nbsp;<br> Industry tracker NPD says restaurants already face a challenging post-Recession environment. Raising wages more than 100% "is not in the realm of feasibility,' NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs says.<br> &nbsp;<br> "Margins are already squeezed because consumers have been cutting back,'' Riggs says. "The restaurant industry has had to discount heavily just to keep people coming through the door. And there would have to be significant prices increase to absorb the cost of higher wages."&nbsp;</div> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> While supporters of the strikes concede that raises for workers would mean some price increases at fast food restaurants, they argue that these would not be nearly as devastating for the chains as executives claim. An analysis published by the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/29/mcdonalds-salaries_n_3672006.html"><em>Huffington Post</em> </a>suggests that the price of a Big Mac might go up by $1.28, raising the price of the sandwich from just under $4 to $5.27.:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">A doubling of wages at McDonald's would almost certainly involve some layoffs, asserts Dean Baker,&nbsp;co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, on HuffPost. &nbsp;At the same time, more workers would stay in their jobs longer, Baker added.<br> &nbsp;<br> Experts generally assume that roughly one-third of the cost of increased wages gets passed on to consumers, with much of the rest of cutting into profits, Baker said. Regardless, McDonald's is so vast and lucrative that it could easily survive a major wage increase, Baker added.<br> &nbsp;<br> "The idea that it'd put McDonald's out of business, there'd be no way," said Baker.</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;A wage increase would also have some benefits for employers, says <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-fast-food-minimum-wage-strikes-20130827,0,6607607.story">Sylvia Allegretto</a>, an economist Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at UC Berkeley. "Constantly having to recruit and retrain new workers is very costly. If they had a higher wage and were more apt to want to stay in their jobs, that would lower those costs. You'd get more productivity gains from a workforce that isn't constantly turning over."&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> The debate around fast food wages mirrors the national debate about raising the minimum wage. Historically, employers have argued that minimum wage increases would be devastating for their businesses, and some politicians have claimed that raising the minimum wage kills jobs. However, a 2004 study by the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPISmallBusinessMinWage.pdf">Fiscal Policy Institute</a>&nbsp;that examined the effect of state-level minimum wage increases found instead that wage hikes were beneficial to state economies:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">In examining state-level small business job growth, the best government data available permits a comparison of 1998 and 2003... For the 10 states and the District of Columbia that had set their minimum wages above the federal level for most of this period, indicators of economic performance were consistently better than for the other 40 states where the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour prevailed.</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> Given the cost to our society of poverty and growing inequality, advocates for fast food employees argue that it is worth rewarding work with living wages, even if it means paying a little bit more for our fast food.<br> &nbsp;</p> <h4><br> <strong>For Discussion:</strong></h4> <ol> <li>Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?</li> <li>According to the reading, why do fast food executives contend that an industry-wide pay raise would be harmful to their businesses?</li> <li>Some economists point to positive impacts for business from paying better wages. What are some of these possible benefits?</li> <li>Would you be willing to pay more for a Big Mac, for instance, if you knew the people who prepared it were earning a better wage? Explain your reasoning.</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><br> <em><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 15.45pt;">We welcome your comments! &nbsp;We will not post comments that we deem abusive, defamatory, or otherwise unacceptable.&nbsp;</span></em></p> <p style="margin: 0in 0in 12pt; line-height: 15.45pt; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2013-10-02T11:58:07-04:00" title="Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - 11:58">October 2, 2013</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Wed, 02 Oct 2013 15:58:07 +0000 fionta 567 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org Debating Workers' Rights at Walmart https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/debating-workers-rights-walmart <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>Debating Workers&#039; Rights at Walmart</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4><br> To the Teacher:</h4> <p>With more than 2.1 million employees, Walmart, the big-box retail outlet known for its low prices, is the world's largest private employer. But bargains for consumers and profits for the company's owners do not come without a cost, most of it borne by Walmart's lower-level employees. For years, Walmart's labor practices have been the subject of controversy, with the company facing charges that employees work for low wages under unfair conditions.<br> &nbsp;<br> Beginning in late November 2012, during the holiday shopping season, over 500 Walmart workers from stores across the country took part in a series of strikes. In their ongoing campaign, employees hope to force the company to recognize their right to publicly speak out and organize free from intimidation and retaliation. However, Walmart has historically been very successful in preventing stores from going union.<br> &nbsp;<br> This lesson is divided into two readings. The first reading provides students with an overview of Walmart's business model, with a focus on the company's labor practices. The second reading examines the recent protest campaigns at Walmart stores across the country. Questions for student discussion follow each reading.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <p><br> &nbsp;</p> <h4>Student Reading 1:<br> Walmart's Track Record on Workers' Rights</h4> <p>With more than 2.1 million employees, Walmart, the big-box retail outlet known for its "low-low" prices, is the world's largest private employer. But bargains for consumers and profits for the company's ownership do not come without a cost, much of it borne by Walmart's lower-level employees.<br> &nbsp;<br> For years, Walmart's labor practices have been the subject of controversy. &nbsp;Much of the furor has focused on conditions faced by workers in China who manufacture most of Walmart's merchandise. But the company is also under fire for its labor practices here in the U.S.<br> &nbsp;<br> The company has faced charges that employees work for low wages under sometimes difficult conditions. Another charge: Walmart purposely prevents workers from getting enough weekly hours to be considered "full-time" employees, thus freeing the company from having to provide these workers with benefits such as healthcare. Additionally, Walmart has been very successful in discouraging employees from unionizing.<br> &nbsp;<br> Walmart's employment practices also reflect wider trends among employers. Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich argued in the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/Walmart-black-friday-strikes_b_2171524.html">Huffington Post </a>on November 21, 2012, that the prevalence of Walmart-level wages and benefits are tied to the steady decline of the labor movement over the past several decades:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">A half century ago America's largest private-sector employer was General Motors, whose full-time workers earned an average hourly wage of around $50, in today's dollars, including health and pension benefits.<br> &nbsp;<br> Today, America's largest employer is Walmart, whose average employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Walmart's employees work less than 28 hours per week and don't qualify for benefits.<br> &nbsp;<br> There are many reasons for the difference -- including globalization and technological changes that have shrunk employment in American manufacturing while enlarging it in sectors involving personal services, such as retail.<br> &nbsp;<br> But one reason, closely related to this seismic shift, is the decline of labor unions in the United States. In the 1950s, over a third of private-sector workers belonged to a union. Today fewer than 7 percent do. As a result, the typical American worker no longer has the bargaining clout to get a sizable share of corporate profits.<br> &nbsp;<br> At the peak of its power and influence in the 1950s, the United Auto Workers could claim a significant portion of GM's earnings for its members.<br> &nbsp;<br> Walmart's employees, by contrast, have no union to represent them. So they've had no means of getting much of the corporation's earnings.<br> &nbsp;<br> Walmart earned $16 billion last year (it just reported a 9 percent increase in earnings in the third quarter of 2012, to $3.6 billion), the lion's share of which went instead to Walmart's shareholders -- including the family of its founder, Sam Walton, who earned on their Walmart stock more than the combined earnings of the bottom 40 percent of American workers.<br> &nbsp;</div> <p>Walmart is known for employing a range of aggressive tactics to prevent its stores from going union. &nbsp;&nbsp;A 210-page Human Rights Watch report entitled "<a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2007/04/30/us-wal-mart-denies-workers-basic-rights">Discounting Rights: Walmart's Violation of U.S. Workers' Right to Freedom of Association"</a> detailed some of these tactics. In the 2007 report, author Carol Pier, senior researcher on labor rights and trade for Human Rights Watch, found that while many U.S. employers use our nation's weak labor laws to keep workers from joining unions, Walmart's practices are especially aggressive. According to Pier, Walmart begins pressuring workers not to organizing during its orientation for new employees, which includes having workers watch an anti-union video. &nbsp;If managers see any signs of union organizing, they can call a 24-hour hotline, and Walmart will send out a "labor relations team" to assess the situation. Workers may also be called in to mandatory "captive audience" meetings to hear lectures about the evils of unionism. &nbsp;In some stores, the report found, Walmart resorted to conducting surveillance on employees, and disciplining or firing workers thought to be organizing a union.<br> &nbsp;<br> Walmart responds to critics by noting that employees are happy to work at its stores and that reports of disgruntled employees are overblown. As the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/06/business/06walmart.html">New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported in 2005:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">In a feisty response to critics who accuse Walmart of providing poverty-level wages and few benefits, the executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., said Walmart offered good, stable jobs, noting that when it opens a store, more than 3,000 people often apply for the 300 jobs.<br> &nbsp;<br> "It doesn't make sense," Mr. Scott said, "that people would line up for jobs that are worse than they could get elsewhere, with fewer benefits and less opportunity."<br> &nbsp;<br> After pointing to headlines on editorial pages that say "Walmart's low prices come at too high a cost," Mr. Scott said, "I'd suggest a better headline, 'Walmart is great for America.'&nbsp;"&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Critics respond that many employees who do not speak out about poor working conditions are motivated by fear. In the rare case that employees do succeed in winning union representation—as employees in two stores in Canada were—the company has responded by simply closing those locations.</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> Will the Walmart model continue to spread or will employees succeed in pushing back? A recent string of strikes by Walmart workers could mark the beginning of a more widespread movement for change.<br> &nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> <strong>For Discussion:&nbsp; </strong><br> &nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?</li> <li>Robert Reich argues that employees' working conditions at Walmart reflect the decline of labor unions in the United States. Do you think his argument is convincing?</li> <li>According to the reading, what are some of the tactics that Walmart uses to discourage workers from organizing?</li> <li>How does Walmart respond to reports that its employees are disgruntled?</li> <li>Walmart's low wages make it possible for the company to charge less money for their products, and this benefits consumers, especially people who might not otherwise be able to buy these products.&nbsp; Do these low prices justify the kinds of worker policies described in the reading? &nbsp;Why or why not?</li> </ol> <p>&nbsp;</p> <hr> <h4><br> Student Reading 2:<br> Walmart Employees Speak Out</h4> <p>Beginning in late November 2012, during the holiday shopping season, over 500 Walmart workers from stores across the country took part in a series of strikes. In their ongoing campaign, employees hope to force the company to recognize their right to publicly speak out and organize free from intimidation and retaliation. The strikes represented the largest organized action of workers in Walmart's history.&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> Supporters of the workers, including Robert Reich, quoted in the first reading, urged consumers to boycott Walmart during protests on "Black Friday" (the day after Thanksgiving, and traditionally a huge shopping day).<br> &nbsp;<br> In February 2013, some employees went back to the picket line, claiming that Walmart was retaliating against them in response to their efforts to organize. As reporter Josh Eidelson wrote at the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/172748/Walmart-workers-back-strike-over-new-wave-alleged-threats#sthash.MYUhCGji.dpuf">Nation</a> on February 7, 2013:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">Workers allege... that Walmart managers held mandatory meetings in which managers read from a memo telling workers that the strikes had been illegal, and that OUR Walmart [an employees' advocacy organization] was being dissolved. "They said that anybody who associates themselves with OUR Walmart, and the leaders, and the organization as a whole, could face disciplinary actions," said Harris. He said he had not been pulled into such a meeting, but had heard about them from co-workers in states including Florida, Illinois, Kentucky and Maryland.&nbsp;</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> &nbsp;<br> The wave of strikes last fall galvanized public support—including sympathy from some members of Congress. Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida joined a group protesting at a local Walmart and wrote about it for the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-alan-grayson/Walmart-black-friday-_b_2185675.html">Huffington Post</a> on November 24, 2012:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">[O]n Thanksgiving, knowing that Walmart employees were missing dinner with their families, we walked into the local Walmart and handed out dinner to them. We gave them a paper bag that had three things in it: (a) a turkey sandwich, (b) a bag of chips, and (c) a letter explaining their right to organize.<br> &nbsp;<br> There were two points to this. One was to inform the workers of their rights. And the other was to demonstrate to them, vividly, that they are not alone.<br> &nbsp;<br> The Walmart manager had the police escort us out of the building. For handing out sandwiches. And for showing Walmart employees that they are not alone.<br> &nbsp;<br> One brave "associate," who had had enough of this mistreatment, walked out with us. Which is her right, under the law, to protest Walmart's unfair labor practices. In fact, a while back, 200 employees walked out of a Walmart store, all at the same time. That really shook up the bosses.&nbsp;By the way, she made sure that she finished serving her customer before she left. She's that kind of person. Walmart actually could use a few more like her....<br> &nbsp;<br> Who will win? I don't know. But I do know whose side I'm on. And I know that I'm not alone.</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> Walmart executives launched a public relations counteroffensive in response to the protesters. Michael Bender, president of Walmart West contributed an editorial to the <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Walmart-Our-workers-love-their-jobs-4078900.php#ixzz2MJZi683V">San Francisco Chronicle</a> on November 29, 2012. He wrote:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">Well-meaning people following the Walmart "protests" should suspend their assumptions about what our associates think of their jobs for a moment and consider what's really going on here. Our associates are hardworking women and men who have chosen to work for us—as a part-time job or a long-term career. They are proud of their jobs and, contrary to popular belief, quite happy in them. Only about 100 out of our 1.3 million people took part in Black Friday "protests"; the people you saw on TV do not work for us. And yet some unions, as well as community activists, academics and others, keep volunteering to speak for our associates. Some of it may come from a good place, but, frankly, it assumes that our associates don't know what's best for their own lives and families.</div> <p>&nbsp;<br> Participants in the strikes dispute Walmart's claims about the extent of the support for the protests among employees. As Alice Hines and Kathleen Miles reported on November 23, 2012, for the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/23/Walmart-strike-black-friday_n_2177784.html">Huffington Post</a>:<br> &nbsp;</p> <div class="rteindent1">According to strikers, one reason that so few of their colleagues among Walmart's 1 million hourly store workers came out with them is that the company intimidates anyone who considers joining a labor group. At the Paramount store, three workers who were not on the job and not participating in the strike told The Huffington Post that they share the strikers' concerns about low wages, lost benefits and retaliation for speaking up, but they did not strike for fear of losing their jobs. Walmart, for its part, says it never retaliates against workers.<br> &nbsp;</div> <p>Feeling that they have widespread support, workers trying to organize at Walmart hope they can continue to ride the momentum from the largest series of strikes in the company's history.</p> <p>&nbsp;<br> <strong>For Discussion:&nbsp; </strong>&nbsp;</p> <ol> <li>Do students have any questions about the reading? How might they be answered?&nbsp;</li> <li>According to the reading, why have Walmart workers participated in strikes over the past six months?</li> <li>Walmart executive Michael Bender argues that his company's employees have freely chosen to work at their stores and are happy with their jobs. Should dissatisfied employees simply get a job someplace else? Is this a fair position for an employer to take?</li> <li>So far only a small minority of Walmart employees have participated in protests. Do you think this indicates a lack of support for their efforts?</li> <li>Would you consider boycotting Walmart or any other company over their labor practices? Why or why not?</li> <li>Have you had experiences where you have been unhappy at a job? Did you feel that you could join with others to speak out? Why or why not?</li> </ol> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2013-03-14T16:11:51-04:00" title="Thursday, March 14, 2013 - 16:11">March 14, 2013</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Thu, 14 Mar 2013 20:11:51 +0000 fionta 592 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org 3 Lessons on High Stakes Testing https://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/3-lessons-high-stakes-testing <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--title--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--title.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--title.html.twig * field--string.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <span>3 Lessons on High Stakes Testing</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--title.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--body--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--node--body.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--body.html.twig * field--text-with-summary.html.twig x field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <div class="field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field--item"><h4><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/lets-talk-about-testing" target="_blank">Let's Talk About Testing</a></h4> <p><strong>by Jinnie Spiegler</strong><br> Middle School, High School<br> In this interactive lesson, students explore opposing views on the high-stakes testing debate, think about their own views and consider what to do about them.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><a href="http://www.morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/circle-stress-and-high-stakes-tests">A Circle on Stress &amp; High-Stakes Tests</a></h4> <p><strong>by Marieke van Woerkom</strong><br> High School<br> Through a Circles process, students have an opening to discuss feelings of stress that these tests can engender and consider ways to reduce stress.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <h4><a href="http://morningsidecenter.org/teachable-moment/lessons/high-stakes-testing-seattle-teachers-boycott">High Stakes Testing &amp; the Seattle Teachers Boycott</a></h4> <p><strong>by Mark Engler</strong><br> High School<br> Students learn about the debate over high-stakes tests, including the January 2013 boycott by of tests by teachers in Seattle.</p> </div> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/field/field.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--uid--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--uid.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--uid.html.twig * field--entity-reference.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'username' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> <span>fionta</span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/user/templates/username.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--uid.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'field' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * field--node--created--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig x field--node--created.html.twig * field--node--teachable-moment-lesson.html.twig * field--created.html.twig * field.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <span> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'time' --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> <time datetime="2013-03-13T09:57:17-04:00" title="Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - 09:57">March 13, 2013</time> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/system/templates/time.html.twig' --> </span> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'core/modules/node/templates/field--node--created.html.twig' --> <!-- THEME DEBUG --> <!-- THEME HOOK: 'links__node' --> <!-- FILE NAME SUGGESTIONS: * links--node.html.twig x links.html.twig --> <!-- BEGIN OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> <!-- END OUTPUT from 'themes/contrib/bootstrap/templates/system/links.html.twig' --> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:57:17 +0000 fionta 593 at https://www.morningsidecenter.org