Coalition Targets Tax Day to Push for Living Wage

by Paul Hogarth, Beyond Chron (reposted)

Wed, Apr 18, 2007 6:34AM

Yesterday was Tax Day – and the Universal Living Wage Coalition had supporters in 75 locations in all 50 states to call attention to the need for a living wage. Here in San Francisco, the Tenderloin Housing Clinic held a “Reduce Your Taxes!” banner from outside of our window. “If all businesses paid a Universal Living Wage,” says the website ( http://www.universallivingwage.org/ ), “we could reduce the tax burden on every single American due to tax payers from excess reliance on food stamps, TANF, the Earned Income Tax Credit, or General Assistance.”

The Universal Living Wage Coalition is a national organization that pushes for a living wage. If every worker received a living wage, Americans would become less reliant on various welfare programs and relieve the tax burden on everyone. Under a ten-year plan, the Coalition proposes a Federal Minimum Wage by indexing it to the local cost of housing throughout the United States.

“By using existing government guidelines,” says the website, “ (1) work 40 hours in a week, (2) spend no more than 30% of one’s income on housing, and (3) using the HUD section 8 rental calculations, we ensure that anyone working 40 hours in a week will be able to afford basic rental housing, food, clothing, utilities, and access to health care. US military pay practices, using geographic considerations, mirror this approach.”

http://beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=4419#more

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