At the start of the pandemic (before I started working at Progress Virginia), I had to cobble together two part-time jobs with occasional freelance work to survive. My hours from these two jobs combined were equal to a single full-time job. So how could I be making more than twice the minimum wage and still […]
economic justice
News
Why Alex Drove 186.5 Miles to Protest Navient
My friend Alex has student loans, like a lot of us. After months of repayment, a new loan mysteriously appeared on her bill and her monthly payments shot up. So she called her student loan servicer, a company called Navient that contracts with the federal government to collect payments on student loans and help borrowers […]
News
Tax Scam Protests Come to Virginia
Tax season always make me moody, but I appreciate the fact that my taxes—at least until Trump’s tax plan was passed—fund investments in our country like building roads, hiring teachers, and getting my mail delivered. But this tax season, I’m feeling extra grumpy because now my taxes aren’t going toward the collective good of our […]
News
Women Still Don’t See Equal Pay for Equal Work
“You don’t have to tell me about the statistics, I’ve lived it. I’ve been paid less throughout my career.” Sharon (not her real name) doesn’t share the shock at the disparity in women’s pay highlighted in the 2009 Labor Department study in to Women’s Earnings, for her the gender wage gap is a lived experience. […]
News
5 Ways to Close the Gender Pay Gap on Equal Pay Day 2018
Equal Pay Day is on April 10 this year. The day marks how long into 2018 the average woman must work to earn what her male counterpart earned in 2017 alone. You can read about the gender pay gap in our blog “Women Still Don’t See Equal Pay for Equal Work,” but here are five […]