Labor Day
A higher minimum wage can help workers weather the worst storm.
There’s no single story of Hurricane Harvey. Each individual Houstonian has his or her own experience, and perhaps none is more appropriate for Labor Day than that of Gloria María Quintanilla.
The 60-year-old Salvadoran immigrant and hotel worker became the face of a New York Times story about the growing anxiety in our city as Harvey first struck Houston.
“Gloria Maria Quintanilla appeared as a speck on the horizon, wading through waist-high waters in the middle of the road with a sack thrust over one shoulder and an umbrella perched on the other,” the Times reported, going on to state that she “seemed to epitomize Houston’s work ethic, its resolve and its shock.”
Not everyone saw the same message of grit and determination.
“While some view her extreme efforts as representative of how hard immigrants work,” digital outlet Remezcla published, “others feel enraged that she’s risking her life for $10 an hour, a wage that would likely not properly equip her for emergencies.”
How many other Houstonians put their well-being in danger because they couldn’t afford to lose a single paycheck? How many trudged to work through the storm out of fear of being fired for not showing up?
Nearly 800 homes were utterly destroyed in Harris County and more than 40,000 were damaged. An estimated 500,000 cars were ruined.
For far too many Houstonians, recovering and rebuilding from this disaster will mean stretching personal finances to their limits.
For others, however, the needed financial resources simply won’t be there.
Almost half of all Americans don’t have enough money to cover a $400 emergency, a Federal Reserve survey revealed last year. That’s not nearly enough to repair a damaged roof or afford a down payment on a used car.
Nearly 80 percent of full-time workers live paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a recent report from Career-Builder. Trying to recover from Harvey could mean falling into debt — or worse.
Millions of Texans are one missed paycheck away from homelessness. Harvey could have been that paycheck. But even before the hurricane struck our shores, it could have been a medical emergency, or a car accident, or any number of random follies of life that knock good, hardworking people into a pit of poverty.
These days, hard work isn’t always enough if your paycheck is little more than $10 an hour.
Houston is already starting to rebuild, and local leaders have the opportunity to seize this seawall moment by constructing new flood prevention infrastructure and implementing sustainable land-use rules.
However, the real challenge will be in building a sustainable economic infrastructure that guarantees Houstonians who work a full-time job don’t have to spend their lives treading water. A $15 minimum wage, more affordable housing, universal health care and a robust public education system all work to build a solid financial foundation that ensures everyone will be able to weather the next storm.
Nearly 80 percent of full-time workers live paycheck-to-paycheck, according to a recent report from Career-Builder. Trying to recover from Harvey could mean falling into debt — or worse.