On Thursday, March 10, members of the Child Center team joined 1,500 fellow human services workers and their allies in City Hall Park for the #JustPay Rally.
Launched last fall, #JustPay is a citywide advocacy campaign among human services nonprofits like The Child Center to call on our elected officials to end government-sanctioned poverty wages for our workforce. Spearheaded by the Human Services Council (for which our CEO, Traci Donnelly, serves as a member of the Priority and Strategy Council) our sector is calling on New York City and State to adopt these core reforms for human services employees:
- Establish, fund, and enforce an automatic annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on all human services contracts.
- Set a living wage floor of no less than $21 an hour for all City and State-funded human services workers.
- Create, fund, and incorporate a comprehensive wage and benefit schedule for government-contracted human services workers comparable to the salaries made by City and State employees in the same field.
Energy, passion, and a spirit of solidarity were everywhere at the rally, as you can see from this photo. The Child Center was proud to show up and will keep showing up to demand fair wages for our workers’ essential services. THIS is what advocacy looks like!
You can view more photos that show the scope of the turnout, as well as links to news coverage, in HSC’s recap.
As a human services agency with a nearly 70-year history, The Child Center has always stood up for our neighbors by showing up each day to provide outstanding service with exceptional heart, and our employees deserve to be paid fair and livable wages for their essential work serving the community. For more information on these reforms, please visit https://www.justpayny.org. Show your support by adding your name to the call. Our voices are powerful when we raise them together!
