The advocacy group Working America posted a job listing on Facebook looking for grassroots organizers willing to start campaigns pushing for a $15 minimum wage — for $12.25 per hour.
The fact that the job paid less than the hoped-for federal standard came to light after a Facebook user named Cody McLaughlin replied to the listing, asking whether the group would be paying its own organizers the wage it was hiring them to advocate for. He received the following reply (via IJ Review):
Hi, Cody! Our field organizing positions start at $12.25 per hour. After 90 days of employment the pay increases to $15 per hour. If you are interested in learning more about the job details, please contact us at 503-331-5800. Thanks!
McLaughlin responded by asking, “So you want people to #FightFor15 for 12.25/hour?”
Fair question, but Working America never answered it. In fact, the group deleted McLaughlin’s comment altogether — but not before he took captured it in a screenshot.
This is not the only instance of groups paying less than they want every employer forced to offer. Last fall, Seattle’s Freedom Socialist Party, which pushes for a $20 federal minimum wage, got busted advertising a job for an experienced web developer that paid just $13 an hour.
— Katherine Timpf is a reporter at National Review Online.