As we prepare to gather with family members around the dinner table and give thanks, let’s remember the nation’s 20 million food workers. From the field, to the processing facility to the grocery store, these workers have some of the nation’s most difficult and sometimes dangerous jobs, while often living below the poverty line.
The momentum to ensure food workers are treated fairly is growing, particularly around the need to increase the minimum wage. A recent report by the Food Labor Research Center at the University of California, Berkeley and the Food Chain Workers Alliance shows how raising the minimum wage would particularly improve the lives of food workers, while only increasing food prices by an average of less than half a percent. The Fair Minimum Wage Act in Congress would raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour over the next three years. The proposal also includes an increase in the minimum wage for tipped workers to 70 percent of the minimum wage. Better wages for workers help strengthen the economy and the food system. Sign this petition to ask Congress to act!
The Food Chainworkers Alliance’s Joann Lo outlines a number of other policy options to improve the lives of food workers at IATP’s Beyond the Farm Bill website.
IATP joins the Food Chain Workers Alliance and other allies around the country in supporting International Food Workers Week. During the week, a variety of actions are taking place around the country, from those focusing on raising the minimum wage to Black Friday Actions at Wal-Mart. Learn more about events happening in your part of the country.
