September 2, 2025: Living Wage: A Right, A Privilege, or a Commodity

Voices of Reason and Resistance hosts Barbara and Opollo welcomed Jay Jones to the studio to talk about labor.  Jay, a former County Commissioner, wears many hats in Savannah as he works to improve the lives of its residents.  

Our conversation began with a brief history of unionizing in the USA, including the Haymarket Affair in Chicago in May, 1886 where AFL organizers and members gathered in Haymarket Square to support a strike by the unionized McCormack Factory workers.  The gathering became a protest when the company brought in non-union workers, aka scabs.  The arrival of police brought violence, a bomb was dropped, people died, union organizers were blamed, 8 were arrested, and 4 were convicted and hung under questionable evidence.  May 1 was designated International Workers Day in commemoration of the Haymarket Affair.  To distance itself from the more radical international workers, the USA designated the first Monday in September as Labor Day, a day: to picnic, not protest.

We discussed the significant reduction in union membership since the New Deal, when the federal government enacted laws to assist unionization.  The minimum wage has not been increased from $7.25/hour since 2009, although the cost of living has increased by double digits.  We agreed that bringing unions back would give workers the ability to bargain for better wages and working conditions, particularly in Savannah, one of the most expensive cities in the country, where a living wage is $24 for a one-person household and $52 for one adult and three children.  This can be accomplished by organizing at the community level--telling our stories and linking to elected officials.

Next week, we will tell the story of Yamacraw Village, a public housing project facing demolition and loss of deeply affordable housing for 300 people.  Join us for this conversation and the next day, Wednesday, September 10 at noon a meeting at the Housing Authority headquarters at, 1407 Wheaton Street, when the demolition request to HUD will be considered.