Manchester, NH – Raise Up NH Coalition is urging Governor Sununu to support raising the minimum wage and stop short-term gimmick to solve the perceived challenges for NH employers for filling job vacancies, especially in the low-wage sectors of the economy.
New Hampshire is among several states curtailing the $300 a week federal unemployment benefits included in the American Rescue Plan. Gov. Chris Sununu is calling for the end of the $300 a week federal unemployment benefits citing a perceived worker shortage.
Raise Up NH issued the following statement:
“Raise Up NH firmly rejects the stripping of safety net programs from individuals. The ending of supplemental unemployment benefits means that those in our local communities who are most economically vulnerable will have less money to pay for the basic costs of survival in NH. At the same time, the Center for Disease Control eviction moratorium is facing legal challenges and is likely to come to an end on June 30th.
The real issue is that too many NH employers are seeking to fill jobs at very low wages with little job security and few, if any, benefits. Individuals are right not to risk their health and safety for a job that will just keep them in poverty, and they are right to want a living wage.
Additionally, the challenges faced by NH employers in finding workers can also be explained, in part, by New Hampshire’s completely inadequate and unaffordable childcare system for working parents and by concerns over health issues for workers in some industries.
Instead of shaming individuals for not taking jobs that don’t afford them protections, security, and a decent quality of life, NH employers looking for a stable workforce ought to look at the fundamental need to provide a living wage, basic benefits, and dignity and respect on the job. All NH workers are deserving of decently-paid jobs where they are valued, respected, and protected.
Governor Sununu’s short-term gimmicks to entice individuals to fill jobs in low-wage industries by providing $500-$1000 bonuses is not a solution to stimulate the NH economy. Both the Governor and NH employers would be far better served if they halted their incessant opposition to reinstating a NH minimum wage at the level of a living wage, if they denounced legislative efforts to freeze base wages for tipped workers, and it they backed the kinds of family and benefit supports that make it possible for individuals to safely and securely seek gainful employment.
Raise Up NH hopes that Governor Sununu and business and industry leaders and lobbyists have not become so accustomed to a low-wage strategy in certain sectors that they are incapable of recognizing a more economically sound path for the state. A more economically healthy long-term fix that would benefit both NH employers and job seekers requires investing in quality affordable childcare and making it accessible, raising the minimum wage, and supporting family-friendly policies such as paid family and medical leave, which Governor Sununu has opposed time and again.”
Raise Up NH is an Initiative of the New Hampshire Alliance for a Moral Economy that unites faith, labor, and social justice advocates for the purpose of promoting improved economic conditions for working families.
