Suggested Hymns:
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief (Hymns 29)
Because I Have Been Given Much (Hymns 219)

Read:
Assign family members to read some of the following scriptures:

Genesis 3:19 Deuteronomy 24:14-15 Psalm 82:3-4 Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 Jeremiah 22:13 Amos 8:4-6

2 Timothy 2:6 James 5:4 2 Nephi 5:17 Mosiah 27:3-4 3 Nephi 24:5 D&C 42:42

Discuss:
What do we learn from these scriptures about the dignity of labor and how workers should be treated?

Read:
"The working poor, those with a family of four earning less than $16,400, number 6 million in the United States. Others, like a 58-year-old janitor in Cambridge, Massachusetts -- while not statistically poor -- work three jobs, seven days a week, to survive." (Source: CNN)

"A full-time, year-round minimum wage worker [in the United States] earns only $10,712 -- $3,417 less than the $14,129 needed to lift a family of three out of poverty. " (Source:AFL/CIO)

"To afford the U.S. Median Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom rental house or apartment, a worker would have to earn a Housing Wage of $13.87 per hour, 269 percent of the federal minimum wage." (Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition)

"Recent studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor found that 67% of Los Angeles garment factories and 63% of New York garment factories violate minimum wage and overtime laws. Ninety-eight percent of Los Angeles garment factories have workplace health and safety problems serious enough to lead to severe injuries or death." (Source: Sweatshop Watch)

"It is common to think that child labor is a problem in Third World countries, but it is also a very real problem in the United States. One million children in the U.S. pick the produce we eat every day. There are an estimated 250,000 sweat shops in American cities." (Source: Congressional Record)

"246 million children work worldwide. 180 million work in dangerous conditions. 73 million working children worldwide are less than 10 years old." (Source: International Labour Organization)

"Chinese apparel workers earn approximately 23 cents per hour, while the living wage in China is 87 cents per hour. In Haiti, the average apparel worker makes 30 cents per hour where the living wage is 58 cents an hour. And in Nicaragua the living wage is 80 cents per hour, yet the average apparel worker makes only 23 cents an hour." (Source: National Labor Committee)

"[T]he total labor cost for the sewing of a $15 college t-shirt was less than 3 cents, or less than 0.2% of the total cost of the t-shirt. In general, almost 75% of the ticket price for a garment made in a sweatshop is devoted purely to profit for the manufacturer and retailer." (Source: United Students Against Sweatshops)

Discuss:
How must the Lord feel about the human realities behind these statistics?
Some would argue that low wages and sweatshops are the result of unrighteous dominion by employers, corporations, and government leaders. Would you agree? Why or why not?
What can be done to improve the lives of working people?

Activity:
As a family, take action to support worker justice. For example, you might:

• Participate in a Labor Day event organized by local unions.
• Take the Jobs with Justice pledge to support worker justice during the coming year.
• Write to a retailer you frequent, asking if the company knows whether or not the goods it sells are sweatshop-free.
• Let your Congressional representatives know that you support raising the minimum wage.
• Find out if your local government has considered a living wage ordinance.