Raising Wages campaign coming to St. Louis, six other cities

AFL-CIO taking campaign for higher income to states and cities

St. Louis is among seven cities the AFL-CIO will be focusing on next spring and summer with its Raising Wages campaign.

The other cities, identified in consultation with AFL-CIO affiliates and community partners as metro areas where the campaign could have the most impact, are Atlanta, Columbus, Metro Washington, Philadelphia, Minneapolis and San Diego.

The campaigns in each city, will bring the labor movement together with organizers already at work to provide energy, ideas and resources to critical battles.

The federation will also sponsor Raising Wages summits in four key states – Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina – where the first four presidential primaries will be held.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka announced the strategy earlier this month at the federation’s National Raising Wages Summit in Washington.

The Jan. 7 summit brought together union leaders, progressive activists and other allies to discuss how to make the economy work for everyone.

‘ENOUGH’

“American workers are beginning to say ‘enough,’ ” Trumka said. “We are beginning to rise up, to come together, to reject the idea that there is nothing we can do about falling wages.

“We are tired of people talking about inequality as if nothing can be done,” he said. “The answer is simple – raise the wages of the 90 percent of Americans whose wages are lower today than they were in 1997. Families don’t need to hear more about income inequality – they need more income.”

JUDGING LEADERSHIP

AFL-CIO’s state labor federations will host summits in the first four presidential primary states in the spring to lay out the entire Raising Wages platform and establish state-based standards of accountability.

“Raising wages is the single standard by which leadership will be judged,” Trumka said. “That means accountability, and it starts with something we all understand – presidential politics.”