Yesterday was another gorgeous spring day, and late in the afternoon my daughter and I walked through the Tulane campus, and as the glory of spring was overcoming me, I heard in the distance a speaker demanding economic justice and the right to organize. Seems Sodexo workers at Tulane and Loyola need street demonstrations to pump support for their agenda. While I could only hear bits of the appeal as I walked, CLEAN UP SODEXO has a post about it. The part where the guy making $8.12 an hour says he's had only a 24¢ and 12¢ raise in five years seems a little odd. In 2005, the minimum wage was $5.15/hr. I guess the real dollars received as a result of the minimum wage rising to its current level ($7.25) are not real raises. Thats not to say that $8.12 an hour is a living wage, but my bet is that the complaining worker has seen a lot more than 36¢ in raises in the last five years.

Tulane, Loyola and Recovery School District Sodexo workers took their complaints about their employer to City Hall, and afterwards to a public rally with other politicians. The SEIU is attempting to organize these workers.

Columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr. spoke last night at Loyola Law School. His topic, facts matter. On this issue he is absolutely on target as we have previously blogged. The Times Picayune article is here.