Finding Ulysses

Pete Meyers, Coordinator of the Tompkins County Workers’ Center spoke to us last night at a http://backtodemocracy.org/ meeting at the firehouse. He opened my eyes to some problems that I hadn’t thought much about. Many of our neighbors, are working full time, and are still below the poverty level. Many maintenance workers and food service workers at Ithaca College and the Trumansburg Schools are making minimum wage or slightly higher. Their colleagues at Cornell are doing substantially better (about $11.50/hr) largely due to the efforts of their union, The United Auto Workers. When some brave sole senses the injustice and tries to organize, to improve his or her family’s chances for a decent life, they are fired. Most of these people just accept their lot in life, and don’t feel that they deserve better. They are wrong. No one, in our country, ought to live below the poverty line, if they play by the rules and work 40 or more hours a week. If you know someone in this predicament, they might find some help at http://www.tcworkerscenter.org/