Safe, sanitary working environments, and humane working hours are examples of organized labor's causes over the years. Annually, the Missouri Catholic Conference Office of Social Development and World Peace issues a Labor Day statement. This year, William Skylstad, Bishop of Spokane, asks us to remember the importance of protecting workers' rights. Skylstad states that the low-wage workers who cleaned the chickens and picked the melons for our Labor Day picnic are likely living in poverty. Agricultural laborers and many other low-wage workers such as janitors, hotel housekeepers, and workers in health, and child care may have no pension other than social security, and no health insurance.
Food insecurity is an ever increasing problem affecting the working poor.
The Hunger and Malnutrition Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association reports that poverty and low paying jobs are the most significant inhibitors of food security. Food stamp benefits will decrease from 80 cents to 66 cents per meal, and providers of emergency food are already struggling to meet the needs of their clients. Missouri Families Still on the Brink , Missouri Association of Social Welfare, Hunger Task Force, February, 1998. U.S. Catholic Conference Committee on Domestic Policy, Labor Day Statement, September 1998, courtesy of Brenda Procter, MU CFE Specialist.