January 8, 2011

NEW YORK – Over 40 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. rallied striking sanitation workers and their supporters in Memphis, TN saying, "It is a crime for people to live in this rich nation & receive starvation wages."

Today, in NYC we are asking the City Council to call a hearing on the Fair Wages for New Yorker's Act which will guarantee that all workers in taxpayer subsidized developments are paid at least $10 an hour plus benefits or $11.50 without.

We are going to kick off 2011 and honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by uniting community, faith and labor from around the city for the common cause of dignity and a living wage. We must show the city council through our massive numbers that the people of New York will not stop until a Living Wage is won.

The Rally will be held this Thursday, January 13, 6:30 p.m. at the Convent Ave. Baptist Church, 145th St. & Convent Avenue, Manhattan. It is reached by the 1, A, B, C, D trains to 145th St.

The program will include:

• First Corinthian Baptist Church Choir

• Monique Walker, Grammy Award-Winning Singer

• Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr.

• Comptroller John Liu

• Members of the NYC Council

• Spoken word by Sistas and Brothas United

• Sermon by Michael A. Walrond, Senior Pastor, First Corinthian Baptist Church

• Lillian Roberts, President, DC 37

For more information go to http://www.livingwagenyc.org/.

New York Theological Seminary Micah Institute