Growing up in Boston, it was in a neighborhood steeped in the previous generation of middle class jobs. In the house to my right lived a letter carrier; across the street was a firefighter and construction worker; a few houses down lived a police officer. These were jobs that paid a living wage and played a major role in supporting the safe neighborhood that I grew up in.
I moved to Pittsburgh for Coro Fellows program and in my current placement at Pittsburgh UNITED have seen a different narrative here. I’ve met workers at UPMC who were paid $11 an hour so that even when working full time, they had to use food stamps to survive. These workers tried to form a union so they could negotiate with UPMC for increased wages—instead, two years ago, four workers were fired for their organizing activities.
Just a few weeks ago, a National Labor Relations Board judge ruled in a sweeping decision that these firings were illegal and ordered the four workers back on the job; UPMC immediately appealed the ruling and instead tried to buy out the workers with an astounding cash settlement just to make the problem go away. The workers however, said no to the settlement. They said they want their old jobs back, with a union and a living wage.
This, to me, is where what I’ve learned at Coro comes in. We talk a lot about values-based leadership, people with an ability to catalyze others to cause transformational social change. The fired UPMC workers are refusing a cash settlement larger than any back pay they would receive—money that would make up for two years without pay—because they see this fight as bigger than themselves. It is even bigger than their families. It is about a living wage for workers across the city of Pittsburgh.
Now comes the most important part—you can play a role in supporting this catalytic change. Organizations from across Pittsburgh are hosting a fundraiser to give these workers a holiday for their families. I personally am trying to raise $1,000 for them. Will you support the workers and me by pitching in $10? Each dollar donated will be matched dollar for dollar, doubling the impact of your support.
For everything I said here, I can’t say it better than Jim, one of the fired workers.
Jim Staus vs. UPMC from Phinehas Hodges on Vimeo.
Editor’s Note: Coro Pittsburgh supports Alex as he expresses his personal opinions, but the personal opinions of our participants do not reflect our organization as a whole. As an organization that prides itself on promoting the exchange of multiple viewpoints on complicated issues, we recognize the importance of Alex’s post as it stimulates ongoing conversations about the living wage, etc.