This is a tough moment in the fight against poverty.<\/p>\n
Sequester is the latest chapter in a time-honored tradition of kicking the poor when they are down. A do-nothing Congress certainly isn\u2019t going to do something about poverty without pressure from the grassroots. And it seems that the only way most of the mainstream media will pay attention to the more than 1 out of 3 Americans living below twice the poverty line \u2014 on less than $36,000 for a family of three \u2014 is if their lives make good fodder for tabloid television or play out in a courtroom drama.<\/p>\n
That said, there are still plenty of people and groups fighting for real change, and plenty of ways you can get involved or stay engaged. I reached out to a handful of folks who dedicate their lives to fighting poverty in different ways. Here is what they asked people to do:<\/p>\n
1.<\/p>\n
From Sister Simone Campbell, Sisters of Social Service, Executive Director of NETWORK: \u201cSupport an increase in the minimum wage to more than $11 per hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
What people don\u2019t know is that a large percentage of people living in poverty are workers who support their families on very small salaries. In fact, 57 percent of individuals and family members below the official poverty line either worked or lived with a working family member in 2011.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis said on May 1, 2013, that all workers should make wages that allow them to live with their families in dignity. Contact your senators and representative and urge them to vote for a minimum wage (that is more than $11 an hour) and tipped minimum wage that reflect the dignity of ALL people.<\/p>\n
2.<\/p>\n
From the Coalition of Immokalee Workers: \u201cTell Publix: Help end sexual harassment, wage theft and forced labor in the fields \u2014 join the Fair Food Program today.\u201d <\/p>\n
Until very recently, Florida\u2019s fields were as famous for producing human rights violations \u2014 with countless workers suffering daily humiliation and abuse ranging from wage theft to sexual harassment and even forced labor \u2014 as they were for growing oranges and tomatoes.<\/p>\n
Today, however, there is a new day dawning for farmworkers in Florida\u2019s tomato fields. The CIW\u2019s Fair Food Program is demanding a policy of zero tolerance for human rights abuses on tomato farms, and it\u2019s working. The program sets the highest human rights standards in the fields today, including: worker-to-worker education on rights, a 24-hour complaint line and an effective complaint investigation and resolution process \u2014 all backed by market consequences for employers who refuse to respect their workers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
The White House recently called the exciting new program \u201cone of the most successful and innovative programs\u201d in the world today in the fight to uncover \u2014 and prevent \u2014 modern-day slavery; and just last week United Nations investigators called it \u201cimpressive\u201d and praised its \u201cindependent and robust enforcement mechanism.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the veteran food writer Barry Estabrook put it, thanks to the Fair Food Program, the Florida tomato industry is on the path \u201cfrom being one of the most repressive employers in the country\u2026 to becoming the most progressive group in the fruit and vegetable industry\u201d today.<\/p>\n
But we need your help to complete this transformation.<\/p>\n
One of the country\u2019s largest supermarket chains, Publix Super Markets, is refusing to support the Fair Food Program. Publix continues to buy tomatoes from growers in the old way, where workers have no access to the Fair Food Program\u2019s proven protections. Rather than step up to the highest human rights standards, Publix continues to turn its back on the workers whose poverty helps fuel its record profits.<\/p>\n
Tell Publix Super Markets CEO William Crenshaw to join the fight against human rights abuses in the U.S. tomato industry.<\/p>\n