Standing Up For the Middle Class

We thought some concrete statistics about average wages, livable wages and starvation wages would be useful in the debate about union versus “direct relationship”. These questions come up frequently on the ramp and various blogs.

What does it take to raise a family of four on a “no frills budget” in Minneapolis or Atlanta? According to the Minnesota Jobs Now Coalition, composed of churches, unions, community groups and businesses, the annual figure is $60,000. Jobs Now Coalition did their study for Minnesota, but according to Cost of Living Wizard (swz.salary.com) ATL and MSP have nearly identical costs of living. DTW and SLC are 8% lower. Cities in the Northeast and West Coast are 10% to 50% higher.

What exactly does Jobs Now mean by “no frills budget”? This includes food cooked at home, rent or mortgage, heating, electricity, water, gas, transportation, health insurance premiums, childcare or school expenses, taxes, clothing, phone and minor household maintenance items.

It does not include education or training beyond high school, debt payments, life insurance, retirement, savings, vacations, pets, movies, gifts, restaurant meals, hobbies, or big ticket items such as washers, dryers or refrigerators. It truly is a Spartan budget that allows no room for emergencies, many family activities or the future. A combined wage for two adults and two children of $60,000 puts that family at the bottom of the middle class. This is the income range many topped out Delta and Northwest baggage handlers find themselves in.

For those in the first few years of their “airline careers”, bridging the gap from poverty to a “no frills lifestyle” means working 2 or 3 jobs or working every scrap of overtime they can get. If minimum wage had kept pace with inflation over the past 30 years, it would be $9.80 per hour (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). This gives a clear idea of what we are facing.

We are at crucial point in all of our working careers. Delta’s stated plan is to give us “industry standard”. Delta has described industry standard to mean industry average. Guess who will control industry average without a union…that’s right, Delta. As the largest airline in the world, it will not take long to bring the industry average down to poverty levels for all airline workers. The goal if being union…to be industry LEADING! That in a nut-shell is the difference between having a union and not.

The economic survival of our families depends on a large majority of us standing up and saying we have had enough. We have had enough of the “race to the bottom”. If we stand up now and vote union we can turn this into a “career job” again.

Don’t settle for standard – don’t settle for average! Join the union effort and demand the best!