After Austin Interfaith leaders and allies rallied at AISD to urge school board members to vote in support of federal prevailing wages for bond project construction workers, the AISD votes in support of living wages a little before midnight.  Barbara Budde of the Austin Catholic Diocese started off testimony that night with a letter from Bishop Joe Vasquez urging the school board to support the proposal.   Leaders of Austin Interfaith member institutions IBEW, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, Education Austin, LiUNA, Workers Defense Project, Painters Local 1779 and the Equal Justice Center delivered impassioned testimony to the same end.  

In the 5-4 vote, trustees Tamala Barksdale, Gina Hinojosa, Jayme Mathias, Ann Teich and Amber Elenz voted for the federal prevailing wages.  [Photo Credit: Austin American Statesman]

Austin District Approves Prevailing Wages for Bond Work, Austin American Statesman

AISD Adopts Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Scale, Plans to Conduct Living Wage Floor Study, Community Impact

Dozens of Austin Interfaith leaders convened at an AISD school board work session to ask the board to abandon the use of an outdated 2005 wage standard and adopt federal Davis-Bacon wage standards, in line with what the City of Austin, Travis County and Del Valle ISD use when paying construction workers for school projects.  Leaders from Education Austin, LiUna, Workers Defense Project, Travis Heights Elementary, IBEW, Temple Beth Shalom, St. David Episcopal Church and the Equal Justice Center testified about the benefits to workers, families, the school district and the economy at large. In photo, Minerva Camarena-Skeith explains to Telemundo Austin how Davis Bacon wage standards would benefit construction workers.

Activistas Presionan A Distrito Escolar de Austin para Aumentar Salarios, Telemundo Austin

Rabbi Alan Freeman and Harmon Motch reflect on a 10:1 redistricting civic academy held at Temple Beth Shalom last month in District 10, and what this means in the upcoming election. 

In Austin’s District 10, a Focus on Preserving the Good Things, Austin American Statesman