Film on Living Wages

08/18/2005

The contrived challenges for contestants on so-called “reality television” are nothing like the real-life struggles millions of American workers face every week to feed and house their families and make ends meet.

The documentary film “Waging a Living” follows the lives of four low-wage workers, including a union nurse and a union security guard, as they struggle to live paycheck to paycheck.

You can view this documentary August 19 - 25 at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Auditorium, 17th Ave and University Ave SE in Minneapolis.  Showtimes are 7:15 pm and 9:30 pm daily with an additional screening at 5:00 pm Sunday (there are no shows on Saturday 8/20).  The documentary is sponsored by Minnesota Film Arts.  For more information on the festival or on local screenings, go to http://www.mnfilmarts.org.

From the film’s synopsis:

The term “working poor” should be an oxymoron.  If you work full time, you should not be poor, but more than 30 million Americans - one in four workers - are stuck in jobs that pay less than the federal poverty level for a family of four.  WAGING A LIVING chronicles the day-to-day battles of four low-wage earners fighting to make work pay.  Shot over a three-year period in the northeast and California, this observational documentary captures the dreams, frustrations, and accomplishments of a diverse group of people who struggle to live from paycheck to paycheck.  By presenting an unvarnished look at the barriers that these workers must overcome to lift their families out of poverty, WAGING A LIVING offers a sobering view of the elusive American Dream.

Russell Hess, Organizer
Laborers District Council of MN & ND
440 5th St. SW
Plainview, MN 55964
ph: (507) 534-3219
fax: (507) 534-9251
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