Success Factors

Elements of Success

A successful living wage campaign requires three elements: people, resources, and information.

Resources

Not all groups provide the same level of resource or expertise.  A group's contribution depends on its membership size, time availability, and other resources and constraints.  Participating organizations need to contribute to one or more of the following areas:

• Material resources .  Actual fundraising or in-kind work.
• Political connections .  Networking and developing relationships with people who have influence.
• Coalition contacts .  Groups should have representatives that other groups or leaders can contact for help or information.
• Knowledge .  Some groups will be able to contribute research experience.  Labor unions, for instance, have access to information regarding actual wages and workplace conditions, while service providers have statistics on human service needs in the community.
• Public education .  The coalition must educate the public about the benefits of living wages through well-planned media strategies, public forums, and the highlighting of stories that illustrate how living wages can benefit the working poor.

Information

Writing a living wage provision requires extensive research.  The more solid the research, the less opportunity for the opposition to undermine the campaign. Preliminary information should include:

Contracts .  Compile a list of all current city/county contracts with private vendors.  This requires calling various departments in the city to provide a composite view of a jurisdiction's contracts.  Once a list is gathered, identify the large contracts that look like they potentially provide low wages.  Research these companies. 

Subsidies .  Find out which city departments give out money to businesses for "economic development", "job creation or retention" or "business attraction."  Request subsidy amounts by company and type of project.

Information gathered in both categories should include wages, the number of employees affected, provision of health benefits, and cost to the jurisdiction.  While this information is public domain, it is difficult to gather.  Businesses usually report only what is mandated by law, and cities often lack the resources or staff to keep accurate records.  Persistence is key to obtaining the necessary information.

It is also useful to contact people or groups that are sympathetic to the living wage movement.  This includes academics, human service professions, local unions, state labor departments, local news sources, elected officials and their staff.  They can lend help in research efforts and even surveys of particular employees.

Strategic Steps

Clear objectives . Develop clear objectives, process objectives and goals for the campaign.

Effective organizing .  A successful campaign must build a broad coalition of organizations and obtaining key political support, from elected officials.

Efficient process .  During the campaign process, run routine and effective meetings.  Form sub-groups to deal with the minutia of the provision and to keep members engaged.  Set well-defined agendas, deadlines, and goals to keep focused and on track.

Decision Making.   From the onset of the campaign, decide how the coalition will make decisions.  Will decision-making be made by consensus, by parliamentary voting, by majority rule, or some other system that takes all the groups into consideration?

Define Roles .  What will each individual or group contribute to the campaign; what will the role of each organization will be?  Ensure that there are adequate follow-ups.

Keep records .  Document all work for future reference:  meetings; related news clippings, letters and memos sent and received; successes and challenges. 

Political alliances .  Form alliances with politicians and those that have power at the state and county level.

Know the opposition .  Understand the different tactics the opposition will use and prepare counter strategy [challenges].

Tactics .  Develop tactics that range from the timid to the bold.  Design high-spirited rallies, demonstrations, protests, face-to-face meetings, and run creative campaigns.

The living wage coalition in Los Angeles used a range of tactics to advance their campaign.  These tactics included systematically reaching out to individual council members through: phone-in campaigns, emails, faxed letters of support.

• Delegations sent twice a day, three days a week.
• Thanksgiving mailings of more than 1,000 decorated plates symbolizing the struggle to feed a family on poverty wages.
• Caroling at City Hall and nearby restaurants with lyrics modified for the living wage campaign.
• Staging a winter holiday play at City Hall with one hundred clergy members and supporters accompanying a famous actor playing the ghost of Jacob Marley, draped with chains to decry the Mayor's Scrooge-like opposition to living wages.

Build the Case. Developing a well-crafted media campaign makes living wages an issue in the community; holds politicians accountable for what they say on record; and builds momentum for the campaign.