Elaine Long of the Living Wage Coalition joined us for our October 3rd zero-waste potluck gathering at WolfBrew Bottle shop. We invited her to educate us and help us identify what we need to pay the staff of Transylvania Shares, the sharing cooperative we are creating.
A living wage in Transylvania county is $12.60 an hour. According to the Living Wage Certification process, a process that allows members of our community to know who is compensating their employees at a living wage rate, the only requirement to become certified is to pay employees $12.60 an hour and contractors $14 an hour.
I learned that those pay rates are calculated not to include the cost of paying child care. Citizens can receive assistance from the government for child care if they fall within a certain income bracket. She did share there was another group in the state who advocates for $15 per hour as a living wage.
Members asked how they could find out who was paying a living wage in our community so we knew who to support. Elaine told us of a list on their website that list those certified in our community.
Many thanks to Elaine for sharing her time and knowledge with us. It was an eye-opening learning experience and I am grateful for those in our community who are educating us towards a more just local society.
