Boston Globe - Making America Work for the Working Poor

Op-Ed

Boston Globe - Making America Work for the Working Poor

An Op-Ed by John Edwards and John Wilhelm

It used to be that poverty was invisible in America. When Michael Harrington published "The Other America" in 1960, he wrote about the unseen millions living in inner-city housing projects, in Appalachia, in rural America. The poor were stuck in isolated ghettos, dying towns, and industries that Harrington called the economic underworld of American life. As the rest of the country went to work and prospered, the poor were bypassed.

Our nation launched a war on poverty in the 1960s and 1970s that helped move millions of Americans out of poverty and into the middle class. While we were able to make some important progress, we still have much work to do. We saw just how pervasive poverty is when we saw the images of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on our television sets.

One of the great disgraces of our country is that a vast new impoverished population has developed in our midst. These are the Americans who work — in fact, they labor at the heart of the industries that drive our economy — yet they still are unable to make ends meet, even as they work at two or three jobs.

Thirty million American workers, 1 out of every 4, make less than $8.70 an hour. These workers, even the ones who work full time year-round, do not earn enough to lift a family of four out of poverty. While whole industries are exporting high-wage jobs to other nations, American workers have been left with jobs that don't pay enough to cover their rent, healthcare, or school books for their children. In this global economy, the service industry jobs that are staying here are not the jobs with the best pay and benefits.

This is both a shame and a challenge — a shame because America has always honored the ethic of hard work — yet millions of Americans are struggling at two or three jobs and still finding the middle class out of reach. It's a challenge because we have a moral responsibility to help those who are doing everything they can to get by, but are still stuck at jobs with poverty wages. The fact that powerful corporations make huge profits by keeping wages low does not reduce our moral obligation to help the working poor. In fact, it adds to our obligation.

Consider the hotel industry, which employs more than 1.3 million people in this country. The consulting firm Ernst & Young, in its outlook on the hotel and lodging industry, says: "The Good Times Continue to Roll." But good times for whom? Profits have risen to pre-9/11 levels, yet the average wage for a housekeeper is below the poverty line. Hotel chains are finding the money to invest in their image, their grounds, and their rooms, while wages for hotel workers remain far too low. Hotel chains are investing more in imported cotton sheets, yet relatively less in wages for workers.

Hotel workers all across this country believe in the American ethic based on the principle that hard work can lead to a better future. They do not lack motivation, dedication, or skill. What they lack is power. About 90,000 workers in the hotel industry are represented by the union UNITE HERE. In such cities as New York and San Francisco, where UNITE HERE has made significant progress on behalf of workers, wages are significantly higher than in cities where most workers do not belong to a union.

Hotel workers who belong to unions have been able to save money, buy homes, and give their children more opportunities. Imagine what it would mean for such cities and towns as Boston, Lynn, and Framingham if the wages for hotel workers could match the wages of disappearing manufacturing jobs. These families would be able to move out of poverty and into the middle class, which would help reinvigorate these communities.

To support the hard work of hotel workers by giving them more opportunities to achieve the American dream, we are launching the "Hotel Workers Rising" campaign. Our goal is to build a broad coalition of hotel workers, community activists, religious leaders, political leaders, and people of conscience to encourage the hotel industry to make good on the American promise.

For generations, America has been the land of opportunity — the place where if you worked hard and played by the rules, you could get ahead. Unfortunately, most Americans are working just as hard, but still struggling to make ends meet.

It is time for America to become the land of opportunity again, so no American who works full time lives in poverty.

Too many hard-working Americans are struggling to get by. It is time for America to once again reward work. It's time to make work pay again and to give these workers the opportunity to live the American dream.

John Edwards is a former Democratic senator from North Carolina and vice presidential nominee. John Wilhelm is president of the UNITE HERE hotel workers union.

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