Episcopalians throughout the diocese are out in their communities this month, asking for signatures on a petition for a ballot initiative that would raise the minimum wage to $10.50 an hour. Dozens of parishes are involved in this initiative, which is led by Raise Up Massachusetts, a statewide campaign to raise the minimum wage and provide earned sick time for all employees.
Many parishes have partnered with another faith or community organization, such as Episcopal City Mission, Massachusetts Community Action Network, Essex County Community Organization and United Interfaith Action, while others are collecting signatures independently.
The Rev. Jane Soyster Gould, Rector of St. Stephen’s Church in Lynn, said that St. Stephen's parishioners have been going out to locations around Lynn to collect signatures: supermarkets, MBTA stations and polling places during the primaries and general election. So far, St. Stephen’s has collected about 800 signatures and hoped to reach 1,000 after its final “supermarket Saturday.”
Gould said that people of faith have a clear imperative to work towards economic justice.
“We take up the baptismal covenant of striving for justice and peace among all people and protecting the dignity of every human being,” she said, “and it’s hard to look at that and not believe that as people as faith we should protect the least of these.”
Many of the churches organizing for the minimum wage initiative have been using the passage of Jeremiah 22:13: “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages.”
Gould said that there is a strong connection between economic justice and the antiviolence work of the diocese.
“If we take seriously that there are connections between violence in urban areas and lack of economic opportunity, then we have a responsibility to engage from a faith perspective in the economic injustice that limits our communities from living into their God given potential,” she said.
In order for these two items to go on the ballot, each needs about 69,000 signatures from registered voters. However, the organizations working on the petitions are looking to collect at least 100,000 for each petition, because signatures are often disqualified for a variety of reasons, from errors such as signing in the wrong municipality, to something as simple as a smudged address or a coffee stain.
“Too many signatures is not an issue,” Gould said. In fact, the more the better—the more signatures, the more support people can voice for these ballot initiatives. And the State Senate is listening: on Nov. 15, Senate President Therese Murray released a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $11 and index it to inflation. The bill could be voted on as early as the week of Nov. 18 (if the bill does not pass, the initiative will still have the opportunity to become a ballot item).
If the initiative makes it to the ballot, it will be a hard fight. There is well-funded opposition to raising the minimum wage, much of it from large corporations that employ large numbers of minimum wage employees. Even if the measure passes, it is still only a single step—but a crucial one, said Gould.
“[Raising the] minimum wage isn’t going to solve the economic problems of our community," she said. "Is this enough? No. But it is essential for people to be involved with this political process, advocating for our people and saying ‘how do you respect the dignity of every human being?' We’re working on the things we have capacity to do immediately, things that will have an effect on minimum wage workers and families."
Update, Nov. 18: Raise Up Massachusetts announced that volunteers had collected 258,158 signatures, exceeding their goal of 200,000 signatures (100,000 for minimum wage, 100,000 for earned sick time). The items will be eligible to appear on the November 2014 ballot.
Update, Nov. 20: The Massachusetts Senate voted today in favor of raising the minimum wage to $11 over three years. The bill will now move the House of Representatives, which has not announced plans to vote on the minimum wage bill.
--Ellen Stuart