Economic Justice Committee
Issues That Should be Addressed in This Year’s General Assembly Session:
1. Minimum Wage (a.k.a. Fight For $15). a) Moving the full implementation of the $15 minimum wage up from 2026 to 2023; b) Indexing the minimum wage and tying to increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), so it will not erode over years; c) Adjusting the “tip credit” which allows employers to pay substantially less than the minimum wage by using the money workers earn in tips to satisfy paying minimum wages.2. Paid Family & Medical Leave. This bill was passed over Governor Hogan’s veto last year, but requires some technical changes. Also, the cost split between employers and workers needs to be set.3. Medical Debt. Many hospitals and other health care providers have used aggressive tactics in getting payments from patients who qualify for free care. Some progress was made on this issue last year, but the End Medical Debt coalition continues to push for reforms.
Resources on Heat Islands
As Heat Islands Worsen in Baltimore, Local Composting Can Relieve It
From PopularResistance.org
The Intersections of Racial and Environmental Justice: The Inequality of Urban Heat Islands
Written by: Len Heckwolf
Mission & Vision
Articulate, Advocate, and Act
We are dedicated to work to bring the Church’s social teaching on worker justice and the economy to fruition. Working as an arm of the Justice & Peace Ministry of our St. Ignatius Catholic Community, we are called and challenged to articulate, advocate and act upon critical economic issues that affect our neighbors, families, and communities across our city, and our world. We are also called to be a resource to provide parishioners with opportunities to live out their faith through working for economic justice. As such we:
- Advocate for workers to receive fair wages for their labor, including support for the “Fight For $15 and a Union” campaign at the local and national level
- Mobilize fellow parishioners around issues of economic justice
- Advocate for elimination of disparities of opportunity for students and workers based on race, ethnicity, gender or income
- Engage with our community about the need for affordable housing.
- Work to eliminate health care disparities based on race, income, gender, or geography.
- Support workers right to organize into unions of their own choosing.
- Persuade legislators to pass “Right to Recall” legislation in Baltimore, so hospitality workers can return to family-supporting jobs
- Advocate for passage of “Time to Care” legislation in Annapolis, allowing workers to maintain a sustainable level of income while they are sick or caring for a family member.
One of our goals is to deepen our understanding of the principles of Catholic social teaching and then, through word and action, integrate these principles more fully into the life of our parish community.
Top Priorities for 2023
1. Address Heat Islands and its disparate impact on lower-income, urban neighborhoods.
2. Right to organize – locally and globally.
3. Implementation of Maryland’s Paid Family & Medical Leave law
4. Involvement in advocacy and direct engagement
5. Work together with other committees where issues overlap with our missions.
Justice & Peace Meetings
The Justice & Peace Ministry generally meets on the 2nd Thursday of the month at 6 PM.
Contact
Terry Cavanagh
Economic Justice Committee Chair
202-368-4814
tcavanagh@seiumddc.org
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Time To Care Act
A Safety Net for Maryland Families
The Time to Care Act (HB8/SB275) will help Marylanders take time away from work to care for new babies, loved ones with serious health conditions, or themselves. The Time to Care Act would provide workers with partial wage replacement for up to 12 weeks away from work to take care of life events that can happen to any of us at any time. With income partially replaced from an insurance fund into which they’ve paid, families are also better able to care for an aging parent, or deal with military employment.
We have gathered several resourses to help you better understand the importance of this legistlature and hope you will join us in supporting the passing of the Time to Care Act.
Resources
View the Proposed Legislation
Additional Resources
What is paid family leave?
Ways to take action
For more information, vist timetocare.net
Current Projects & Events
“Cathonomics”
Most economists would have us believe that the free market is the best form of social organization. Each individual is the best judge of his or her own needs and should be free to negotiate every economic transaction with minimal public regulation or interference....
Small Business Holiday Market
The Office of Economic Development at Johns Hopkins is hosting a “Bmore Small Business Holiday Market” on Sunday December 18th at noon. Please come support local small businesses, purchase food, desserts, fashion, jewelry and more while enjoying a live DJ and photos...
Centering our Faith and Worker Justice on Labor Day
A recent study found that Catholic Social Teaching on the Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers was the single "most overlooked" element in Catholic Social Teaching today. Labor Day weekend offers a great opportunity to share this aspect of our faith with our...
Advocacy
Racial Justice Trivia Night
Tuesday June, 13th @ 7pm Join Baltimore Racial Justice Action as they debunk the historical lies we’ve been taught and learn the truths that are often omitted from our history books. Questions intersect race and other areas ranging from gender, capitalism,...
“Cathonomics”
Most economists would have us believe that the free market is the best form of social organization. Each individual is the best judge of his or her own needs and should be free to negotiate every economic transaction with minimal public regulation or interference....
Tree Pruning Project
On a cold and windy Saturday on January 21, 2023, a few members of the Environmental Justice Committee worked with volunteer Phyllis Fung, a certified Tree Keeper and Board member of Blue Water Baltimore, to prune five street trees parallel to the church along Madison...
Media Watch
BRJA’s 20th Anniversary Event
June 14th @ 7 - 8:30pm BRJA is celebrating 20 years of working towards racial justice! Join us as we explore BRJA’s evolution, including our history, the challenges of doing anti-racism/anti-oppression work in today’s world, and where we hope to be in the next 20...
Racial Justice Trivia Night
Tuesday June, 13th @ 7pm Join Baltimore Racial Justice Action as they debunk the historical lies we’ve been taught and learn the truths that are often omitted from our history books. Questions intersect race and other areas ranging from gender, capitalism,...
Two Bills Aim to Tackle Baltimore’s Housing Shortage
Baltimore has a housing shortage, counterintuitive as it might sound for a city that’s lost residents for the past seven U.S. Censuses and 5.7% of its population in the past decade alone. For all its vacant houses, many aren’t habitable or...