Michigan ACORN Minimum Wage Campaign

Victory Declared, Campaign a Success

2006-03-24T16:45:00.000-08:00

Governor Jennifer Granholm will be signing the minimum wage bill into law this Tuesday, the 28th. This marks the end of this phase of the Michigan Needs a Raise and ACORN ballot drive.

Our ballot drive has succeeded in forcing the legislature not only to take notice of minimum wage and the needs of low-income families, but to actually sign on to our agenda, something they have refused to do for 9 years. As a direct result of our campaign, nearly 400,000 workers in Michigan will get raises.

This is a victory for progressives and a victory for working families. The bill may not be perfect, however we will keep pressing for important new measures-- inflation indexing, coverage for tipped staff, coverage for disabled persons and migrant workers.

ACORN and Michigan Needs a Raise want to thank all the volunteers who gave their time collecting petitions, all the donors who contributed, and the citizens of Michigan for supporting the campaign.

If you're interested in continuing the fight for community justice, contact your local ACORN office.

Though the MI Senate rumbles, the Campaign Continues

2006-03-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

Many have probably read lately that the Senate recently passed minimum wage legislation Thursday. This is rather ambiguous news, but the main message from everybody is:
KEEP PETITONING!

Here's the skinny-- Thursday, the Republicans allowed the minimum wage package out of committee in the state senate for a full floor vote. No one really knew it was coming. Next, Ken Sikkema, the majority leader from Grand Rapids, attached amendments that changed the initial wage level (upped it 5 cents) but eliminated inflation indexing. There was a floor vote, and the resolution passed unanimously.

Now we wait to see what happens in the House.

It is not altogether clear what the motivations behind this move are, and what the future intentions of the majority party are.
Certainly the opposition is frightened by the ballot initiative, and wants to keep minimum wage from becoming a powerful issue for progressives in the upcoming election.
It's possible that this is a move to give vulnerable Senate Republicans some cover, while the measure dies in the House.
It's also possible that the opposition might further dilute the bill in House/Senate conference such that it will become unacceptable to progressives. This happened in New York where, yes, they raised the minimum wage, but they also weakened overtime protections.
It's thirdly possible (though not mutually exclusive) that this was a media stunt done to hamper petitioning. I can tell you from being out last night that every third person thought the problem was already taken care of.

So, the bottom line is that we should keep petitioning until we know what the bill looks like coming out of House/Senate conference. We shouldn't put down our guns until we know for sure that there's a bill we can live with.

Stay tuned for further updates.

ACORN Michigan Minimum Wage Site Live!

2006-02-13T14:58:00.000-08:00

I'm proud to announce that the ACORN's Michigan Minimum Wage Action Center is now up and running!

The Website can be found at:
http://michigan.livingwagecampaign.org

This is probably a temporary URL, but the site is working nonetheless.

What we need now is volunteers. And signatures. Lots of signatures.

Other news today--

ACORN and the Michigan Needs a Raise Coalition held about twenty press conferences across the entire state today. Look for our ugly mugs in a paper near you on tuesday.

Ryan

University of Michigan Students Endorse Campaign

2006-01-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

Last night, the University of Michigan Student assembly voted to endorse the campaign there to raise the minimum wage. You can read the article here:
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/11/43c4ba1e3e60a

It felt really good-- not only did we win, but the coalition was all in one room. The back of the room was a solid green, from all parts of the campaign. Alicia even found giant "gold" dollar sign necklaces at Target for 25 cents. I smelll a new uniform.

While the assembly can't technically endorse a ballot initiatve, it can endorse the idea in general, which is what happened. It's important to force student governments to take stands on issues that extend a little beyond the campus, otherwise they'll do nothing but take our student fees and pad their resumes.

It really feels like the campaign is coming together.

On that note, all the ACORN organizers finally met on monday at the state organizing conference. That was another experience, indeed. Like being invited to sit at the big kids table. Although, the students took up about a quarter of the room, so it may well be our table soon.

I hope this works

2006-01-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

New Years is over. Christimas is over. The high and holy shannigans of holidays, family visits, finals exams, and idle times are over. I've been champing at my bit to get back at this, for our campaign to start-- but let me explain why we're here. In the blogosphere.

This blog has been created as a place for activists, organizers, leaders, and every other interested person to post their thoughts, dreams, hopes, announcements, and everyday experiences with for and about the campaign to raise the minimum wage in Michigan. My hope is to create a place to spread simple information as well as build a community around the campaign. We must never lose sight of the people we're working for, the friends we're struggling with, and the human story behind this messy political beast.

Primarily, the folks who will be posting here are organizers working for Michigan ACORN (The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now). We fought and won a minimum wage campaign in Florida in 2004, and with our allies in the Michigan Needs a Raise Coalition, we're here to win in Michigan.

I'm Ryan, the student coordinator. I've been working on this campaign since...heaven help me...April of last year. I started working as the assistant canvass director in Lansing over the summer, and have moved over to working with my people, the students.

As part of the canvass, I ranged all across Michigan- from Detroit to Lansing to Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids- knocking on doors and talking to people about economic justice. And the most surprising thing? Most people get it. Most people just intrinsically understand that working families are losing, that fat cat executives are winning, and $5.15 an hour isn't a wage; it's a shame. Most people don't need any convincing. It's because they've struggled, watched their families struggle, and seen the return on that struggle diminish year-by-year-- it's like interest in reverse. The people of Michigan understand this basic injustice, and I believe they will take a step toward righting it in November 2006.

Well, the blog's up. Our website is up (it still needs a little work. Check the link on the sidebar). My Christmas cards are on the shelf, and I'm ready to get back to work.

Lace up your boots ladies and gents, we've got a campaign to win.

-Ryan B. in Ann Arbor

Minimum Wage Petitioning Begins January 17

2005-12-30T14:58:00.000-08:00

The campaign to raise Michigan's minimum wage kicks into high gear on January 17.
ACORN, Student Minimum Wage Action Campaign, and the rest of the Michigan Needs a Raise Coalition, will begin circulating our petition to raise the minimum wage in Michigan to $6.85 an hour and index it to inflation.