Lifting Up Low-Wage Work: Global Perspectives

Stephanie Luce is Professor of Labor Studies at the Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education, CUNY School for Professional Studies; and Professor of Sociology in the CUNY Graduate Centre. Professor Luce’s books include Fighting for a Living Wage and Labor Movements: Global Perspectives.

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 others, average wages are still below the levels of pre-financial crisis. 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, Luce reviews the situation for low-wage workers globally and discusses the increased mobilization to raise wages through legislation, worker organizing and strikes.

The Phyllis Clarke Memorial Lecture is held annually to honour the memory of Phyllis Clarke, a member of the Ryerson University faculty from 1977 until her death in 1988. The lecture series is organized by Bryan Evans, and co-sponsored and supported by Ryerson CUPE Local 3904, CUPE Ontario, the Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University, and Alternate Routes: A Journal of Critical Social Research.

Recorded in Toronto, 26 March 2015.