Category: Jobs

Memphis council members promote politically safe investment in children while ignoring underpaid parents

EDGE Board signs off on Overton Square Hotel incentives

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County EDGE board signed off on tax incentives for a boutique hotel in Overton Square. The Economic Development Growth Engine signed off on $6.1 million […]

May Day, May Day! Immigrant workers and low-wage workers unite

Micaela Watts

Struggle to survive on poverty wages builds solidarity among workers

Immigrant Rights Are Workers Rights

Thomas Kennedy

Bad policies that harm working Americans continue to chip away at our aspirations to strive.

Let’s Guarantee Every High School Student a Summer Job

Photo credits to Flazingo Photos. Originally posted on the Huffington Post. In New York City, where the summer job program for high school students is run on a neighborhood lotto […]

Why Good Jobs Are Needed in the Food Stamp Debate

Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

Originally published on Equal Voice. It’s already begun happening. In 2016, 500,000 to 1 million recipients will be officially cut from the “food stamp” rolls. Some reports say it could […]

‘Unlocking Opportunities’ Policy Brief

Joseph Pate

By: Dorian T. Warren, Chirag Mehta, Steve Savner Imagine a 21st-century jobs program that puts families first, makes extensive investments in America’s most impoverished places and creates millions of good […]

With $55,000 Debt, You Learn to Appreciate the Little Things

Stephanie Land

Originally posted on The Guardian as a kick-off to their series on debt. I expected college to feel like a major accomplishment. I walked across the stage, eight months pregnant with […]

Sheryl Sandberg Thinks She Finally Gets Single Moms, But She Doesn’t Get Me

Stephanie Land

Originally posted in SheKnows. I read Sheryl Sandberg’s recent Facebook post from the trenches of a horrible Mother’s Day weekend. The youngest had thrown up on Friday night, and we […]

Out of Homelessness, A Mom Turns Advocate

Originally published on Rooflines, a Shelterforce blog. Jenean F. and her husband worked hard to achieve the increasingly elusive American Dream. She was a stay at home mom and he […]

Jobs With Justice March: Recap

Of all the excellent moments at last weekend’s Jobs with Justice conference, the one the continues to stick out for me was when Melonie Griffiths yelled, “I am the movement!” […]

Worker Justice on Display in D.C. This Weekend

The state of worker justice will be on display this coming weekend in Washington, D.C. at the Jobs with Justice national conference. The two-day conference that begins Friday in the […]

There’s a Reason Black Youth Call Chicago ‘Chiraq’ and It’s Not Just Criminals Doing the Shooting

Written by Center for Communtiy Change Writing Fellow Fred McKissack. There’s a reason why young black people call Chicago “Chiraq.” It’s like a war zone in some neighborhoods. And it’s […]

Reinvesting In Poor Communities Must Be A Priority

Joseph Pate

Written by Anthony Newby, executive director for Neighborhoods Organizing for Change in Minneapolis and Dorian Warren, Center for Community Change board chairman. Originally posted on the Al Jazeera America. The […]

What do you do when you can’t afford childcare? You get creative.

Stephanie Land

Written by Center for Community Change Writing Fellow Stephanie Land. Originally posted on the Washington Post. At the start of my 10-minute break during a two-hour writing workshop, I looked […]

How New York’s “Fight for $15” Launched a Nationwide Movement

Co-authored by Center for Community Change Writing Fellow Wendi C. Thomas. Originally published in the American Prospect. Brooklyn car-wash worker Angel Rebolledo and Bronx fast-food employee Flavia Cabral work in […]

Mr. President: We don’t Need Gestures; We Need Action to Ban the Box

Steve Huerta

Earlier this week the President announced that his office was issuing a memorandum to Ban the Box for federal employment. What followed was an explosion of jubilant articles that once […]

What working families in Memphis want to GOP candidates to address on Thursday

Pictured to the right: Ella Collins at a Home Care Fight for $15 rally Ten Republican presidential candidates will take the stage in Cleveland Thursday for the GOP’s first televised primary […]

A Worker’s Take On The New Overtime Proposal

Originally posted on Talk Poverty and The Nation. As a manager for a national auto supply chain, Lora McCrary puts in between 50 and 70 hours a week remodeling stores […]

Putting good jobs at top of US policy agenda

Allie Carter

This post originally appeared here. Even though she’s worked at the Checkers in Lincoln Park for four years, Mya Hill is still paid only $8.15 an hour – Michigan’s minimum […]

The Fight for Quality, Accessible Child Care is a Fight for Women’s Equality

This piece was originally posted in the Montgomery Advertiser. Women’s History Month is about more than celebrating phenomenal women in history; it’s also about honoring the women who have dedicated […]

“I believe that we will win!”

Tamika Middleton

At 7:30 am, about 100 airport people marched into the atrium of the world’s busiest airport chanting, “We can’t survive on $7.25.” The crowd got bigger as they rallied, with […]

President Obama, Think Big in 2015

Robin Curran

It’s a new year, which means new resolutions, new inaugurations and the beginning of holding politicians accountable for their campaign promises. Last week I attended the Washington Interfaith Network’s (WIN) […]

Using Our Dollars as Voting Ballots

Mark Ortiz

While the country ramps up for another festive holiday season, people who work in retail jobs across the nation tend to cringe at the approaching days. The holidays can be […]

Working Families’ Lives Matter

Tamika Middleton

For the past several weeks, cities across the country have seen a multitude of protests and acts of civil disobedience following announcements that police officers would not be indicted in […]

When Enough Gets to Be Enough

Tamika Middleton

This blog was originally posted on the Voices for Human Needs blog. On Monday night, thousands of people marched through downtown Atlanta in the pouring rain. Most of them I […]

#WeEndPIC – We End the Prison Industrial Complex

Olivia Chow

Last week, the Center for Community Change, in partnership with Nation Inside, gathered more than 100 activists in Detroit for a national strategy meeting to end mass incarceration. Below is […]

Minimum Wage Momentum!

Pictured here: People cheer the moment the minimum wage bill passes in the Seattle City Council. There have been a lot of minimum wage victories in the news lately. Yesterday, the […]

College Degrees Lead to Jobs… Right?

Abby Marco

The other day, someone asked me why I made my college decision. As I prepared one of my typical “I love the city/the political atmosphere is great/I wanted a challenge” […]

Building the Economic Strength of Women

March 8th is International Women’s Day, and although it’s 2013, American women still lag behind men in paycheck fairness. Women still make a mere 64 cents for every dollar their […]

A Bus Tour, Full of Stories and Strength

Emily Gelbaum

Last week, the National Keeping Families Together Bus Tour launched from Chicago, IL carrying families and individuals directly impacted by the current immigration system. The bus riders are calling on […]

The Immigrant Community Comes Together

Jingru Huang

Leaders of the Asian Pacific American community are supporting the Keeping Families Together mission. Comprehensive immigration reform is essential because families should never be separated. When mentioning the “undocumented immigrants”, […]

Making Minimum Wage a Living Wage

Overall, 77% of those who watched The State of the Union Address were pleased with what the President had to say. It was a passionate plea and directive to the […]

The Poverty Predicament

The word ‘poor’ is treated like a four-letter word by politicians. But with the downturn of our economy and slow job market, the issue of poverty has become more serious […]

The Youth Unemployment Problem

The Center for Community Change recently released a report highlighting the issue of youth unemployment and under-employment entitled, “Establishing a Foothold in the Labor Market for Young Workers Through Subsidized […]

Keeping Families Together in our Fight for Immigration Reform

This year has been a huge one for DREAMers who earlier this year were granted deferred action status. But the fight for DREAMers is not over. Although they now have […]

The High Cost of Low Wages

As Congress debates the fiscal cliff, hopefully avoiding balancing the budget on the backs of workers, they should look at retail industry workers. The retail industry has bounced back from […]

A Message to the President and Congress: Listen to America!

The 2012 elections show that Americans want President Obama and Congress to strengthen the middle class, put people back to work, embrace prosperity economics over austerity, and protect essential retirement […]

Why is Poverty Taboo in the Presidential Campaigns?

Kathleen Tresslar

A lot of important issues were discussed during the first presidential debate. President Obama and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney were eager to discuss the middle and upper class, but […]

What’s the Matter with the Middle Class?

Sean Thomas-Breitfeld

Last week, “class” was in the news. But – as usual for most all of our political discourse – the focus was on the struggles of the amorphous “middle” class, […]

Hungry American Children

There have been a lot of speeches at both the Democratic and Republican Conventions, but only Jeff Bridges has spoken at both. Unfortunately, Bridges speech will not garner the much […]

Working Women of Color and Wages

Women are more likely than their male counterparts to pursue higher education (see graph on right); and yet they still don’t make more money. Latino women make 60 cents for […]

The Real Homeless Hotspots

Anton Conkle

The annual music festival, South by Southwest (SXSW) typically generates tons of publicity each year. Held in Austin, Texas, the 10-day festival includes news conferences on the latest technological trends, […]

In Search of Solidarity

Ashley Ferguson

Something seems to be missing these days in America, and it’s the spirit of solidarity. It seems like we’ve been a country of “what’s in it for me” for a […]

One Family’s Struggle to Find Jobs

Among the hundreds of people at a rally last week in Charlotte, N.C., calling on Congress to create more jobs to get our economy going again were two sisters and […]

Come Join ‘Job’s for #Young America Day’ on the Hill

Megan Salzman

Are you one of the many youth who is unemployed and frustrated with our nation’s high unemployment levels? If so, then this is the event for you! The Young Invincibles, […]

Let’s Target Infrastructure Jobs to Communities Most in Need

Rich Stolz

Today the Transportation Equity Network released a national report ranking the states based on how well they prepare and create job opportunities for low-income and minority residents and women on transportation infrastructure […]

Turning Anger Into Hope

Deepak Bhargava

Americans are angry these days. You can see it at the Occupy Wall Street protests. You see it in states where governors have pushed through severe anti-union measures that are […]

A College Senior’s Outlook on the Economy

Kelissa Hieber is a student on a mission. The senior at Miami University in Ohio has an internship she loves at We Are Ohio. The Integrative Studies major is focusing […]

A View of Obama’s Jobs Plan from Ohio

Heather Wingo is a native of Chillicothe, Ohio and wanted to build a better future for her two young children. Working as a server and jack of all trades at […]

A Sad Holiday this Labor Day