Welcome!

NEW RESOURCE:

December 29, 2006: Media Analysis on Low-Wage Work Media Coverage

Douglas Gould & Co., Inc. has produced a new report on media coverage of low-wage work issues. This is a follow-up report to an earlier news analysis that the firm did five years ago. Go to (http://www.douglasgould.com/resources/WorkingPressFEWMediaAnalysis.pdf) for the new report.

March 21, 2006: Audio Conference on Minimum Wage Messaging

click here to listen to the audio conference

This is an audio stream of a 40-minute audio briefing with dozens of grassroots activists around the country working on minimum wage issues. The briefing was coordinated by the CCMC and its Fairness Initiative on Low Wage Work and featured the Co-Directors of the Initiative Beth Shulman and Phil Sparks.

BACKGROUND:

The information and resources on this site are designed to help people who care about building an economy that works for all Americans - one that provides profit to business owners and stable jobs with adequate pay and benefits to employees. All materials are based on extensive research that was conducted for a communications and technical assistance project called For An Economy That Works for All, funded by the Ford Foundation and coordinated by Douglas Gould & Co., Inc. and the Communications Consortium Media Center, public interest communications firms.

If you are reading this, you probably know very well that advocates have been working for a number of years, with varying degrees of success, to enact policies and programs that address the obstacles standing in the path of low-wage workers who are striving to achieve the American Dream. Issues such as the lack of affordable early care and health care, a minimum wage that has not kept pace with the cost of living and inadequate access to job training programs are some of the key challenges that we confront. While progress in these areas has occurred, there are a number of public perceptions that make it exceedingly difficult to achieve the policy changes necessary to improve the lives of low-wage working families. By framing these issues in a different way, advocates can shape public dialogue to create a climate that is more favorable toward low-wage workers and low-wage work.

On this site, you will find the following resources:

Took Kit For Communications and Advocacy: The Communications Consortium Media Center (CCMC) and Douglas Gould and Company have combined resources to produce a two-part tool kit for low wage communicators and advocates.

Part One-Getting Started. Produced by the CCMC, this first section outlines suggestions for beginning a communications plan.

Part Two-Advocacy. Produced by Douglas Gould and Company, this second section offers helpful tips on messaging on low-wage work, media campaigns and advocacy.

Reports: The latest opinion and research reports on issues affecting low-wage workers and their families.

Broken Communities: Planning for Tomorrow 2004(focus group study)

Together for Success: Communication Low-Wage Work as Economy, not Poverty 2004 (polling report)

October 13th web conference discussing the findings from the polling report, "Together for Success: Communicating Low-wage work as economy, not poverty"
View here (requires Windows Media Player: Windows Macintosh )

Contact Us: Visit this page for contact information and to find out more about the For An Economy That Works for All project.