Lower-wage occupations, with median hourly wages of $7.69 to $13.83, accounted for 21 percent of job losses during the retraction. Higher-wage occupations - those with a median wage of $21.14 to $54.55 - represented 19 percent of job losses when employment was falling, and 20 percent of job gains when employment began growing again. The job market has turned around since then, but those fields have represented only 22 percent of total job growth. The middle third - occupations in fields like construction, manufacturing and information, with median hourly wages of $13.84 to $21.13 - accounted for 60 percent of job losses from the beginning of 2008 to early 2010. The report looked at 366 occupations tracked by the Labor Department and clumped them into three equal groups by wage, with each representing a third of American employment in 2008. …Īs the New York Times reported last summer, a study by the National Employment Law Project found that the recovery is generating more low-wage work than anything else (emphasis mine): I think we as faith leaders are called to stand in between that gap, to point out where injustice is happening, where there are wolves, so to speak, tearing at the net. To quote the prophet Ezekiel, “God said, I look for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land.” The prophets have called leaders and people of faith to stand up. As faith leaders we are called to respond to that kind of crisis. LM: In this country we are in an age of crisis-of economic crisis. What connection do you see between these two groups especially moving forward? JJ: So it sounds like there is a larger movement at work here-a sort of collaboration between faith groups and the greater labor movement. In fact, throughout history one of the core Christian justice issues has been economics. Jesus told many parables of workers being paid just wages and right wages. “Woe to those who did not pay the workers just wages or who withheld wages.” Ezekiel, Isaiah, Micah, all these prophets spoke to this issue. The prophets often warned people about landowners and those who controlled jobs and wages.

LM: Well, first of all I would say that it’s biblical. JJ: Why do you think faith communities and faith leaders are involved with these strikes? What basic principles and values are at stake here? Muñoz works with Arise Chicago, which brings faith communities into the fight over labor issues. James Cathedral in Chicago, about strikes by fast-food workers seeking higher wages, better conditions and more hours. Jack Jenkins ( of the Center for American Progress interviewed Rev. Posted by Shawn in Economics, Progressive faith

American prophets by jack jenkins