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Connexions Calendar

The 2015 Phyllis Clarke Memorial Lecture


March 26, 2015


Low-wages are increasingly a problem for workers in many parts of the world. In the past two years, wages have remained flat in most wealthy countries and in some countries average wages are still below the levels pre-financial crisis. Workers in some global south countries like China have seen average wages rise, but these are usually still far below a living wage. Opponents claim that raising wages can lead to unemployment and higher prices. What do we know about the impact of minimum wage and living wage laws? What is the potential for these policies, and movements, to improve the lives of hundreds of millions of low-wage workers? In this talk, I will review the situation for low-wage workers globally and discuss the increased activity seen to raise wages through legislation, worker organizing and strikes

Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education at the CUNY School for Professional Studies, and member of the Department of Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center. Professor Luce received her both her Ph.D. in sociology and her M.A. in industrial relations from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She was a faculty member at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Labor Center, and has worked at the U.S. Department of Labor, a Congressional Commission on Agricultural Workers, the Center for Wisconsin Strategy and the Political Economy Research Institute. Best known for her research on living wage campaigns and movements, she is the author of Fighting for a Living Wage, and co-author of two other books on wage standards: The Living Wage: Building a Fair Economy, and The Measure of Fairness. Her current research focuses on globalization and labor standards, labor-community coalitions, and retail work. She is co-editor of What Works for Workers? Public Policies and Innovative Strategies for Low-Wage. Her most recent book is Labor Movements: Global Perspectives.

Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: POD 358
Location: 350 Victoria Street Toronto, ON
Website: http://www.ryerson.ca/politics/news-events/events/2015-phyllis-clarke-memorial-lectur
For information contact: b1evans@politics.ryerson.ca
Categories: Labour, Workplace, Unions

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