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Living Wage 101: Non Wage Benefits
Calculating
a living wage | Non-wage benefits
| Examples
of living wage policies
» Introduction
» What Non-Wage benefits should campus
workers be receiving?
» Testimonials of the importance
of non-wage benefits to the success of a living wage
campaign
» Why should workers have a right
to non-wage benefits?
» What are and are not workers’
rights under US labor law?
» Non-wage benefits as international
human rights
» International Labor Organization
Instruments that address non-wage benefits
» Card Check Neutrality: One of the
most fair and democratic procedures to organize workers
Introduction
Power in society is intensely concentrated in the hands
of a few. Real social change requires its redistribution,
and the living wage movement is about building worker
power. Without crucial non-wage benefits in place, even
a successful living wage policy or ordinance is not
sustainable. Students and activists come and go. Workers
need to have the voice and power to advocate in their
workplaces.
Non-wage benefits are inseparable from the living wage.
Together with the wage they secure a just working environment
and, the vital resources that both workers and their
families need to sustain a basic and decent standard
of living. Non-wage benefits range from safe and fair
working conditions to health care coverage and paid
vacation time and the right to organize. Non-wage benefits
are not a privilege, but rather are a right to which
workers are entitled.
In any living wage campaign, non-wage benefits MUST
be integrated into the demands for increased wages.
As is clear in some of the student organizer testimonials
that follow, when non-wage benefits are not emphasized
as heavily as the demand for a wage increase, non-wage
benefits will be the hardest demands to reach an agreement
on with your school’s administration. Since non-wage
benefits are such a critical part of family and personal
security, the importance of the demands non-wage benefits
must be communicated “loud and clear” to
the administration. Here are a few resources that can
help you incorporate non-wage benefits into your living
wage campaigns.
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What Non-Wage benefits should
campus workers be receiving?
Here is a listing of non-wage benefits that campus
living wage campaigns have fought for and won as well
as others that should already be established working
standards and benefits:
• Wage/benefits parity among all workers doing
the same jobs
• Medical and dental benefits
• Paid sick leave
• Right to organize and collective bargaining
• Pension Plans
• Grievance procedures (ideally fulfilled by a
union)
• Access to all campus resources (i.e. Buses,
library, exercise facilities, etc.)
• Educational benefits (discounts on tuition,
tuition for children, etc.)
• Full time work (instead of only offering part-time
work to avoid providing benefits)
• Maternity and Paternity Leave
• Child care assistance
• Safe & healthy working conditions
• Paid vacation time
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Meeting workers where they
are: testimonials of the importance of non-wage benefits
to the success of a living wage campaign
Coming soon!
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Why should workers have a right
to non-wage benefits?
In this country, as well as in many countries around
the world, our laws, our social norms, and our values
inform us of the basic principle that an honest day’s
work deserves a fair and just return. While a part of
that return is financial, the other part is in the form
of just labor standards, access to health insurance,
grievance procedures and many other resources that the
employers are endowed with. Bellow you will find both
domestic law and international law that shed light on
the basic requirement that employers must meet in setting
just forms of remuneration and labor standards for their
workers.
Although these legal standards are provided to help
bolster the legitimacy of the demands in your living
wage campaign, it is important to remember that we,
as living wage activists, are always striving to do
BETTER than the most basic requirements of the law as
we work towards helping increasing the standard of living
for workers. As your are forming your campaign demands,
keep in mind that the legal standards are usually insufficient
in protecting the workers’ right to a living wage,
as those in place are rarely enforced. As activists
it is our calling to reach beyond the parameters of
the instituted laws and demand justice when they do
not provide adequate protections to workers and their
families.
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What are and are not workers’
rights under US labor law?
On the fairjobs.org website you will find a handy guide
entitled “Know Your Rights” that explains
what are established work place rights under US law,
as well as practices of employers that are unfair though
legal. Here is a link to this resource that can assist
your campaign in finding exactly where US labor laws
fall short of protecting workers’ right to a full
living wage.
http://www.fairjobs.org/fairjobs/workplace/
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Non-wage benefits as international
human rights
On the international level a significant number of
nations have come together to agree upon what are the
basic rights of people by the very nature of their humanity.
Some of these international covenants speak directly
to the rights and entitlements of working people. Referring
to these established international standards and covenants
can often provide greater legitimacy to the demands
of a living wage campaign.
Bellow you will find links to portions of the International
Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights, which
is one of the major United Nations (UN) human rights
treaties that that has been ratified by 137 UN member
countries to date. These links will take you straight
to the language of the covenant deals with specific
aspects international labor standards that can be useful
in your campaign. Although these standards are not enforceable
under US labor law, the existence of these standards
on an international level shows that there is world
wide recognition of the importance of non-wage benefits.
As living wage activists we should strive to institute
these and even other international labor norms into
our US legal system.
• Just and favorable working conditions:
http://shr.aaas.org/thesaurus/detail.php?tid=146
• Adequate standard of living:
http://shr.aaas.org/thesaurus/detail.php?tid=357
• Protection against substandard minimum wage:
http://shr.aaas.org/thesaurus/detail.php?tid=151
• Maternity benefits:
http://shr.aaas.org/thesaurus/detail.php?tid=312
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International Labor Organization
Instruments that address non-wage benefits
On the International Labor Organization website you
can easily access the hundreds of covenants and declarations
that demand for non-wage benefits as the rights of every
worker. Some of the rights included are related to:
• Freedom of Association
• Collective Bargaining
• Vocational Guidance and Training
• Employment Security
• Wages
• Working Time
• Occupational Safety and Health
• Maternity Protection
• Migrant Workers
• Indigenous and tribal peoples
To access these useful conventions visit www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/norm/subject/index.htm
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Card Check Neutrality: A fair
and democratic procedure for workers to unionize
For many workers, the ability to obtain the non-wage
benefits that their families need and to secure the
safe and just working conditions that they are entitled
to by law is stifled by difficult and convoluted procedures
of organizing unions. Employers often know that if workers
have an easier time organizing unions then the workers
will be able to more effectively bargain for the non-wage
benefits that they should be receiving in the first
place. While usually unfavorable for employers, Card
Check Neutrality is the easiest way for workers to organize
and gain the rights that they are entitled to. Here
are the links to two great resources found on the American
Rights at Work and UNITE HERE’s websites that
explain the importance of Card Check Neutrality when
advocating for workers right to organize.
American Rights at Work Card Check Neutrality Fact
Sheet
http://www.araw.org/takeaction/efca/cardsummary.cfm
UNITE HERE’s Card Check Neutrality Document
http://www.hereunion.org/organizing/card.html
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