As a 14-year-old, Sara Ziff faced situations most adults find difficult to manage. But as a model barely out of middle school, sexual harassment and fighting for wages owed to her were all too common. She found out she wasn’t alone. Other models faced the same challenges, and many were pressured to drop out of high school to make the most of a short-lived career.

They banded together to address these concerns collectively, to establish fair and ethical standards in the workplace. In 2012, Ziff formed the Model Alliance to bring dramatic and lasting change in the fashion industry. We spoke with Ziff this month about the fashion industry and the initiatives at The Model Alliance. Read the full article>>>

 

All this is fine as far as it goes. But we need to be more ambitious. We should be raising the federal minimum to $15 an hour. Here are seven reasons why: 1. Had the minimum wage of 1968 simply stayed even with inflation, it would be more than $10 an hour today. But the typical worker is also about twice as productive as then. Some of those productivity gains should go to workers at the bottom. 2. $10.10 isn’t enough to lift all workers and their families out of poverty. Most low-wage workers aren’t young teenagers; they’re major breadwinners for their families, and many are women. And they and their families need a higher minimum. Read more >>>

It’s good to be a CEO, at least paywise. According to the 2014 AFL-CIO Executive PayWatch, released today, it’s 331 times better to be a CEO than an average worker. PayWatch finds that the average CEO of an S&P 500 company pocketed $11.7 million in 2013, while the average worker earned $35,293. The gap between CEOs and minimum wage workers is more than twice as wide—774 times. Read more >>>

As the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council for the Denver Metro Area, the Denver Area Labor Federation represents more than 50,000 union members through its political and organizing programs.

Founded in 1882, the Federation works with local and national labor and community organizations around policies and initiatives in support of worker rights. DALF works closely with the Colorado AFL-CIO in implementing the New Alliance Program for strength and solidarity across our labor movement.

Read more...

Donate to the Denver Area Labor Federation.

Its down to the wire in Wisconsin to see whether anti-worker Governor Scott Walker gets to keep his job. Please join us in calling into Wisconsin to make sure that we stand up to people who are willing to put us down. This race will have an impact all over the country.