By PAUL MACOMBER

Advocates outlined ways to generate better-paying jobs in Southern Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest at a meeting in Medford Thursday.

They contend workers in this region are losing ground to the cost of living.

"Real wages are down 6 percent in Southern Oregon in the last 10 years," said George Fence, who moderated at the meeting in the Medford Center Building. "Living wages are not keeping pace. For a family of four, a (full-time) job that pays $8 an hour is barely at the poverty level of $16,400."

Meanwhile, welfare reforms have cut off the "safety net" for low-income families, said John Fletcher, director of CERVS, an agency that provides food and assistance to poor families.

"We've seen alarming shifts in the last three or four years," he said. "Our case load has doubled since the summer of 1996. We're dealing with more working poor families whose entitlement programs have been limited or eliminated."

He praised Oregon's efforts to raise the minimum wage, but said the $6-an-hour minimum isn't close to a living wage.

The Living Wage Jobs Project is a three-year effort for the four-state Pacific Northwest region, financed by a $285,000 grant from the Northwest Area Foundation.

It's sponsored in this state by Oregon Action and is intended to bring together churches, unions, low-wage workers, community groups and social service programs to address the need for better-paying jobs.

Rich Rohde of Oregon Action identified four components in the campaign:

Train and empower local leaders.

Advocate ordinances that require any corporation that does business with public money or subsidies to pay a "living wage" and benefits.

Negotiate and involve individual corporations in ways they can benefit from paying living wages.

Support economic development efforts that support living wages.

A project committee of 35 people has been formed; a series of meetings is scheduled the weekend of April 24-25 in Medford with representatives of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN) and the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations.

"Our contention is that paying living wages is good for business and good for the community," Rohde said.

Jeff Zimmerman, an Oregon Action volunteer, noted that annual household income in Jackson and Josephine counties averages $25,375 compared with $37,969 in Portland.

"People are playing by the rules," Zimmerman said. "They're getting to work every day on time and it's not fair that they're living in poverty."

Living wage campaigns have been conducted in Portland, Boston and Los Angeles. Fence said organizers are most interested in the campaign in Duluth, Minn., which compares more closely with conditions in Southern Oregon.