Living Wages

Hunger Strike for Philadelphia Public Schools


September 12th, 2013

At the end of June, a threat arose in the Philadelphia school district of budget cuts that would eliminate many workers. I would like again to congratulate the parents, and staff, with UNITE HERE local 274, for their amazing 14 … Continue reading



Five Things That #OccupyWallStreet Has Done Right


September 21st, 2011

#OccupyWallStreet protests are now well into their second week, and they are increasingly capturing the public spotlight. This is because, whatever limitations their occupation has, the protesters have done many things right. I will admit that I was skeptical about … Continue reading



It's too hard, too hard' LMU Students Join Hurting Hotel Workers in 'Day of the Dead Tired' Protest March


November 27th, 2007

November 7, 2007 By R. W. Dellinger Rosa Balam, a robust-looking woman, stills wears her name tag from the Westin Hotel. But she hasn’t worked as a housekeeper there for 2 1/2 years, and doesn’t expect to ever work anywhere … Continue reading



Anti-Poverty Advocates Cheer Minimum Wage Increase


July 31st, 2007

Caitlin G. Johnson – OneWorld US NEW YORK, May 31 (OneWorld) – U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law Congress’ plan for continued war funding last Friday — and with it, an attached proposal to raise the federal minimum wage … Continue reading



Pay CEOs Less, Minimum Wage Workers More


July 31st, 2007

Published on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 by CommonDreams.org by Holly Sklar Minimum wage workers made $5.15 an hour when Harry Potter became a sensation a decade ago, and nothing more until July 24, three days after the final Harry Potter book … Continue reading



An Unlivable Minimum


July 31st, 2007

Published on Saturday, July 28, 2007 by The Boston Globe http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/28/2824/ by Derrick Z. Jackson The Democratic presidential candidates were asked in the CNN/YouTube debate if they were willing to work in the White House for the national minimum wage. … Continue reading



Starting The Center for the Working Poor: Don’t Mess With God’s Crazy Plan


November 22nd, 2006

By Paul Engler The Summary I still run the Center for the Working Poor, delivering food to impoverished workers, writing, speaking at churches, and supporting living wage boycotts. While doing this, the House of Representatives passed a law designed to … Continue reading



Living Wage for All: A Plan for a New Living Wage Movement


May 12th, 2006

A public address by Maria Elena Durazo Ancient prophets like Jesus and those prophets of our time, like Martin Luther King, have each told us, “We will be judged by how we treat the poor.” This is a proclamation so … Continue reading



Union Maid


April 29th, 2006

-John Lorinc The people who make up your fancy hotel room are invisible, but powerful – now that they’ve realized they can put downtown economies through the wringer Every morning shortly after 6 a.m., Althea Porter leaves her Mississauga home … Continue reading



Wal-Mart, Largest Employer of the Working poor, is losing Public Support


March 29th, 2006

Wal-Mart has been closely watched by many corporate leaders that see it as a model for the new Economy: rapid growth, poverty wages, few health benefits, no unions, race and gender discrimination, and the destruction of small family businesses. In … Continue reading



Living Wage Comes of Age


July 23rd, 2001

When the nation’s first living-wage ordinance passed in Baltimore in 1994–a modest measure that improved the earnings of just 1,500 workers–few could have predicted that a powerful national movement would emerge in its wake. In the ensuing seven years, more than sixty municipalities, pushed by coalitions of local activists, have passed living-wage laws… Continue reading



What's So Bad About A Living Wage?


September 4th, 2000

Paying Above the Minimum Seems To Do More Good Than Harm -Steven V. Brull, Business Week Juana Zatarin lives in a one-bedroom apartment that rumbles whenever a jumbo jet lands at Los Angeles International Airport. But life is looking up … Continue reading



Wage Warrior


March 20th, 2000

When it comes to getting under the well-tanned skin of the Los Angeles business establishment, no one does the job as efficiently as Madeline Janis-Aparicio. In recent years the 39-year-old mother of three, who heads the city’s Living Wage Coalition, has pressured developers into guaranteeing decent pay and benefits for workers in return for zoning approval and tax breaks. And as a bare-knuckle advocate for tenants’ rights… Continue reading







We will All Become Pilgrims: 2022 Newsletter Summary

December 19th, 2022

By Paul Engler Whenever I write my newsletter, I am afraid a subtle or not-so-subtle repetition will be noticed—I fear I write the same thing over and over again! Generally the theme has something to do with change, uncertainty, and … Continue reading

Liminality is a Recipe for Navigating Winter: Becoming a Pilgrim on the Camino de Santiago

December 19th, 2022

Whether you’re in a midlife, quarter life, or general life crisis, the proverbial crap hits the wall. You break up with your girlfriend, your community starts falling apart, your movement dies, your organization goes bankrupt, you lose the political campaign. … Continue reading

2022 House Journal

December 19th, 2022

I’m happy to report that our community has stabilized at the Center for the Working Poor house. We haven’t had one person leave in the past year! A welcome contrast to 2021, when we had so many people come and … Continue reading

2021 CWP Newsletter Summary

December 15th, 2021

There is a big debate among economists about a curious phenomenon unfolding right now called “The Great Resignation”. We have an immense labor shortage because people are not returning to work as the experts expected (common after a recession). There … Continue reading

2021 Center Update: Ring the Bell of Hope… Again, and Again

December 15th, 2021

This fall, in one of my first trips to visit my coworkers from the Ayni Institute in Boston, I stopped by New York City to visit one of my closest friends, Eric Stoner. And I was sitting on his couch, … Continue reading

2021 House Journal

December 15th, 2021

The Center for the Working Poor was founded in 2006, but we didn’t move into our large Victorian house until 2007. Therefore, we have been in the house for 14 years now; and throughout this time, only Paul Engler has … Continue reading

The Story of Community Counseling

December 15th, 2021

Over the last year, we have started beta groups for a new model of mutual aid counseling, called Community Counseling that has engaged dozens in weekly small group counseling practice and training. In November, I went to Boston to lead … Continue reading

2020 Center Update: Surrender and Become Attentive

December 17th, 2020

“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die …” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 “Surrender to what is dying, and become attentive to what is emerging.”  — … Continue reading