ESP Living Wage Campaign Takes Shape
Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by tricia.waltner in ESP, Featured, News
Nearly 40 education support staff from Meridian and Boise gathered Saturday, January 23, 2010 for an all day training led by Jorge Rivera, NEA Staff. The training focused on defining what constituted a Living Wage in Idaho, initial steps to building a Living Wage campaign and the importance of building relationships in this effort.
“The training helped to reinforce my feelings regarding seeking a Living Wage in this time of economic hardships. It is not our responsibility to carry the burden of these times on our shoulders and we have the right to be able to “afford to live.” – Jeanne Taylor, Peregrine Elementary, Resource Room Assistant
Participants learned about the role of networking and relationships in any successful organizing effort and practiced these one on one conversations with their colleagues in attendance.
“The Living Wage training gave us some good information – I especially liked coming up with statements that people would likely say to us and then coming up with replies (as a group). I think this will be very helpful. Furthermore, it reinforced the belief/fact that we do “deserve” a living wage and we should be paid a wage that we can support ourselves on.” - Tawni Berryman-Hull, Resource Room Assistant, Peregrine Elementary.
For more information on a Living Wage in Idaho, check out the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations (NWFCO), a regional federation of four statewide, community-based social and economic justice organizations located in the states of Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington: Colorado Progressive Coalition, Idaho Community Action Network, Oregon Action, and Washington Community Action Network. Collectively these organizations engage in community organizing and coalition building in both rural and metropolitan areas, including Denver, Seattle, Boise, and Portland. www.nwfco.org.
To view photos of this meeting go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/meridianea/sets/72157623228285353/
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