KIM BOBO COMES TO BINGHAMTON WITH IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT WORKER JUSTICE
On May 1, Binghamton was fortunate to host Interfaith Worker Justice director Kim Bobo. The event began with an opening prayer from first Congregationalist pastor Rev. Dr. Arthur Suggs. This was followed by Patricia Donohue’s reading of a Langston Hughes poem called “Let America Be America Again,” from 1938. In the poem, Hughes claimed that America was never America to him. Kim was then introduced by Fr. Tim Taugher.
Kim began her talk by mentioning Pope Francis’ declaration that inequality is the root of all ills and evils. Kim claims that she has only one message—to bring to the forefront the issue of income inequality and the urgent need to address it.
Bobo mentioned that Wal-Mart is not only the number 1 employer in the United States but also the world. Because of Wal-Mart’s stinginess, many of that company’s employees have to resort to government programs such as food stamps to make ends meet. Because this company refuses to pay its workers a fair wage, it has become a drain on public programs. The Walton family has a net worth of a staggering $144 billion. At their stockholders’ convention, the company’s message to its employees was, “If you’re not making a lot of money, you are either un-talented or not working hard enough—a slap in the face to the many hardworking, low-wage workers that company has. At the same time, the Walton heirs were treated as royalty, which is symptomatic of our culture’s worship of its number one idol, the almighty dollar. Bobo mentioned that Wal-Mart sets and lowers the standards for retail and manufacturing—leading to depressed wages. The company’s workers are devalued while the company’s chief executives are endlessly adulated.
Kim emphasized the growing divide between the richest and poorest in this country, as well as the shrinking, fraying middle class. During the recovery from the Great Recession, 44 percent of the new jobs created were ones with poverty wages. In addition, wage inequality has been accompanied by wage theft. As the Book of Deuteronomy (24: 14-15) mentioned, wage theft is a serious sin and crime in God’s eyes. Kim mentioned that there were some minimum wage violations in Nashville with some hotel workers. She also mentioned that mandatory unpaid overtime constitutes a major part of wage theft. Many workers have fallen victim to the shaving of hours, as well as payroll fraud. In addition, many workers are paid with cards, cards that come with all sorts of hidden charges for both access and non-use. These debit cards are a sneaky way to steal from the working poor in order to give to the bankers. Kim also mentioned that one boss even had the hubris to deduct expenses from a birthday party from his employees’ wages. Bobo also mentioned that fired or laid-off workers were often denied their final paycheck. She also mentioned how, at some McDonald’s restaurants, some employees were made to clock out and wait in parking lots if business is slow. They are made to clock back in when business picks up. This, of course, saves the bosses money and is one of the many ways that the company is made to look good for Wall Street.
Bobo mentioned how the federal department of labor has been defunded in recent decades because of corporate pressure. In fact, the ratio of federal wage investigators to workers has increased from 1:9000 to 1:135,000. Labor departments are also suffering on state levels: Florida voted to phase out their department of labor. When several municipalities decided to establish their own labor departments, they were told that it was a state function. This resulted in a catch-22—“Only the state can intervene in labor issues—and we choose not to.”
Kim mentioned a friend’s quote: Community organizing is stepping on someone’s toes until they go away.” She urged us to contact our congressman about raising the federal minimum wage. She also declared, “I don’t want to live in a country of aristocrats and serfs I want a common good, a just economy and a shared prosperity.” We must do all we can to preserve the middle class and prevent America from becoming a nation of the rich few and the many poor and desperate.
As individuals (or collectively) we should:
• Tip with cash when eating at restaurants—ensuring the server (rather than the boss) receives the gratuity.
• Find out what the wages are for contracted workers.
• Help ensure that your friends and relatives are getting paid fairly.
• Get on the Interfaith Justice list serve
• Volunteer in a workers’ center once it is established.
• Assemble at offices of elected officials and put pressure on them for minimum wage increases.