[Imc] County Board to vote: this is THE MOST IMPORTANT LIVING WAGE MEETING:

[Sascha Meinrath]

Hi All,

If you support social justice for workers, please make every effort to
attend this meeting next Monday.  Many of us have been working for years
to bring the Living Wage to Champaign County and this is by far the most
important meeting and vote we've ever had.  Your attendance will certainly
have a major effect on how board members vote.

--Sascha

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Subject: Monday, Feb. 25 LW at the County Board, 7pm

PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE WIDELY!

Mark your calendar and plan to be there!

The most important event yet in the local campaign to bring the Living
Wage to Champaign County will be the County Board meeting this coming
Monday, Feb. 25 at 7pm. The meeting will be held at the Brookens County
Administration Center, 1776 East Washington St. in Urbana. Park and
enter the building on the north side from the road the goes there off of
Lierman Ave.

And yes, the County board will be meeting this time on a MONDAY evening,
for reasons having to do with the president's holiday.

Those who saw Wednesday's News-Gazette know that the Living Wage needs
your full support at this meeting in order to pass. Despite the
bi-partisan support the Living Wage has received (several Republican
members of the board have pledged to support the LW) some Democrats are
concerned about where the money (about $93,000 a year) to raise all
workers to the LW will come from. Board members NEED to see a large
turnout in support for the Living Wage. The money can be found (there
are several options), but we need to make clear that the public will
support those who make the tough decision to prioritize paying a Living
Wage.

There WILL BE a vote on the Living Wage Monday. We are not sure at this
time what form the vote will take. There may be an outright vote to pass
or defeat the LW. There may be a vote to amend the current LW resolution
that passed unanimously out of committee on Feb. 7. There may be a vote
to delay consideration a month in an attempt to get the neccesary
support. In any case, THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO BE THERE SO THAT BOARD MEMBERS
KNOW THAT THE LIVING WAGE HAS ENORMOUS PUBLIC SUPPORT!

Another thing that as many people as possible need to do is CONTACT YOUR
COUNTY BOARD REPRESENTATIVES! Here's a link that will give you contact
info for all county board members:
http://www.co.champaign.il.us/countybd/cbmembers.htm

Contact your representatives irrespective of the party they belong to or
their previously expressed opinions in favor or against the LW. Members
who continue to strongly support the LW need to hear from the public;
members of both Democratic and Republican parties support us; members
from both parties may be wavering and need to be reminded politely that
the public supports the Living Wage.

Here are some important pieces of info to help you articulate your
support:

The News-Gazette ran a front-page story (Wed, Feb. 20) on the troubles
that nursing homes are having ensuring adequate staffing nationwide and
the negative impact this has had on the care of nursing home residents.
Paying a Living Wage is one way to ensure that the labor market can
supply enough workers. Continuing to pay less than Living Wage only
makes the situation worse. Choosing to pay the LW means that the nursing
home will have the quality of workers needed to ensure quality care.

The Living Wage is NOT the minimum wage, but voters have shown strong
support for raising the minimum wage to at least $8 an hour (the current
Living Wage has just had its yearly adjustment--it is now $8.70 an hour,
as was predicted.) Here's a link to the story:
http://www.ucimc.org/front.php3?article_id=4108&group=webcast

Gov. Ryan's State of the State of Illinois speech yesterday reflected
the difficult times that the state budget is going through, but he still
called for 20 to 25% increases in the pay of low paid state workers who
assist those who have diabilities in the state. If this can be done at
the state level in these hard times, our County Board can find $93,000
in a county budget that is more than $25 million.

What do voters REALLY want? Robert Kuttner tells all in this important
opinion piece:
http://www.ucimc.org/front.php3?article_id=4139&group=webcast

WE can still win this one, but we need an enormous show of public
support to buck up the courage of some county board members to take the
initiative to do the right thing in adopting the Living Wage. Contact
your board representatives ASAP and show up Monday night at 7pm to show
the public's support.
Thnaks for your support,
Mike Lehman