Three recent changes to state minimum wage laws are all on an upward trend. In September, California Governor Jerry Brown raised the state's minimum wage to $10/hr. With an all-Democratic legislative body, this might have been predictable. But voters are part of the trend: New Jersey's citizens voted this month to raise their state's minimum wage to $8.25/hr; and in the Washington state town of SeaTac, home of Seattle's airport, election day gave minimum wage workers a jump to $15/hr, the highest in the country.

The participants in Real Dialogues' first Hangout come from very different perspectives - in this introduction, we learn about who they are, and they delve a bit into the question of unemployment.

In the next Hangout, we will have additional participants, as well as drop-ins by well-known policy analysts, and your questions. Stay tuned for the date and time...

The first Real Dialogues Google+ Hangout takes place today (times below). You are invited to watch, comment and ask questions at our Google+ Real Dialogues page. The Hangout will be facilitated by Susanna Haas Lyons and includes employers, employees and unemployed people from northern Illinois. There will be three Hangouts, including interviews with experts, and all will become part of a television program. 
The discussions and program are about the pros and cons of the proposed minimum wage hike and other employment issues, as seen by real people for whom these issues have real impact. The organizers are politically neutral on this issue: our aim is to build understanding through civilized discussion, informing citizens and helping them grapple with the realities and conflicts that make this a difficult, and interesting, subject for discussion.

Join us! Real Dialogues: Work & Wages
6PM Eastern 
5PM Central 
4PM Mountain
3PM Pacific

Please look at the other pages of this site while you are here, and sign up for updates on the upcoming Hangouts.

After months of design work and preparation, our Catalyst Award project is finally entering its production phase!

We will be using Google+ Hangouts to host three rounds of facilitated small-group dialogues online on the issue of employment and the minimum wage in the greater Chicago, IL area:

• The first Hangout is for our participants to get to know each other and to explain and hear about their employment situations.
• The second Hangout will feature interviews with Conservative, Liberal and Alternative experts, who will also drop in to answer questions.
• The third Hangout aims to tie it all together: what have people learned, have they changed their perspectives, and will this affect their lives?

This first Hangout takes place Tuesday, October 29 at 5pm Central Time (that's 3pm Pacific, 6pm Eastern).

We are very pleased to welcome Susanna Haas Lyons as our facilitator. Susanna will be facilitating a group of people from the Chicago area to discuss work and the minimum wage. They include employees, employers, minimum wage workers, unemployed job seekers and other people interested in the issue.

Audience welcome

Anyone can watch this Hangout and use the new Google+ Q&A feature to ask the participants questions (to ask a question or comment, you will be instructed to join or sign in to Google+).