Jane Fonda’s latest foray into politics is about better pay for restaurant workers. The actor and activist has lent her voice to the One Fair Wage ballot initiative in Michigan. She mentioned the campaign briefly during the Respect Rally on Saturday in Park City.
Other speakers avoided the issue altogether. That’s strange. What better place than Park City when Sundance rolls around to talk about wages, tips and the staggering level of income inequality that disproportionately victimizes women?
Behind the glamour, thousands of people work there for poverty wages, including immigrants fearful of deportation. According to the U.S. Census, the average income for men is $24,545; women, $17,786.
None of the speakers mentioned H.B. 118, a bill introduced by Democratic Rep. Lynn Hemingway into the Legislative session that convened Monday. It would slightly raise the minimum wage for tipped employees. Wasn’t the stuff of Hemingway’s bill the point of the rally?
His proposal could’ve used a boost from local news coverage of the rally — although Fonda might not have been Hemingway’s surrogate of choice.
Bill Keshlear, Salt Lake City