Community Faith and Labor Coalition

   Led by members of the Community, Faith and Labor sectors, the Coalition believe that people who work full-time should be able to provide for their basic needs:  food, housing, healthcare, transportation, child-care, and household expenses.  Since 1999, the Coalition has been actively involved in creating a Living Wage ordinance in Marion County, Indiana.  Why are we doing this?  Because a Living Wage works.  Independent studies conducted from Baltimore to Los Angeles have established that communities so benefit from a Living Wage ordinance.  Living Wage ordinances have brought dignity and financial independence to thousands of American workers while neither increasing taxes nor lowering job opportunities.  Indeed, companies have found that by paying a Living Wage, they improve employee morale, increase worker productivity, and greatly reduce costly employee turnover.

What will a Living Wage do for Marion County, Indiana?

  1. Bring dignity to low-income Hoosiers by raising themselves and their families out of poverty.

  2. Help small businesses by increasing consumers' purchasing power.

  3. Increase fair competition by making it more difficult for poverty-wage employers to undermine companies who pay living wages.

  4. Reduce the tax burden of Hoosiers, who through their taxes, subsidize poverty-wage employers when their workers receive such public assistance as food stamps, child-care vouchers, housing assistance etc.

  5. Strengthen Marion County neighborhoods by giving Hoosiers the financial ability to become homeowners.

  6. Promote economic development by fostering Living Wage jobs.

Why Support a Living Wage Law in Indianapolis/Marion County, Indiana?

  • A Living Wage will reduce welfare costs and save taxpayer dollars

  • A Living Wage directly improves the local and business economy

  • A Living Wage improves neighborhoods

  • A Living Wage strengthen and expands the middle class

  • A Living Wage increases educational opportunities

  • A Living Wage provides healthcare opportunities

  • A Living Wage improves family and individual well-being

 

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