Yesterday, exactly one year away from Election Day 2016, the Fight for $15 campaign held what it’s calling the largest action of its kind in USA history. Holding protests like this one helps empower workers to stand up for their rights, Sargent said. The current federal minimum wage, $7.25, has not increased since 2009. Her pay isn’t enough to cover rent or diapers for her child, the 23-year-old says. She dropped out of college to care for her grandfather, making finances tight.
Advertisement
A representative for Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bojangles’ Inc. did not respond to a request for comment. The group is backed by the Service Employees global Union.
They stood outside and inside fast food restaurants downtown like Jack in the Box and Burger King where several of the day strikers work.
“Fight for 15” is launching a campaign to encourage people to vote next year for candidates who support raising the federal minimum wage.
Another Democratic presidential candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, told about 250 mostly black and Hispanic protesters in Washington that United States workers deserved a living wage.
Opponents of the governor’s move said it was an attempt to “circumvent the legislature”.
“It’s really sad. It’s really hard”, she said. The Cuomo administration was unable to say which state agencies would be most affected by the wage hike. The change will be implemented gradually over the next six years. It was $14.90 in the retail industry in October, the Labor Department said last week, and $13.82 for hotel employees.
A few participants in the early-morning rally said they were demonstrating to press for $15-an-hour wages for all low-wage Californians even though they, themselves, are already scheduled to get it in Los Angeles.
Today’s wage increase will affect approximately 10,000 employees – about 9,000 in NY State and 1,000 in NY City. But the vast majority of U.S. McDonald’s locations are franchised. “And then we’re on a budget, because we have to go paycheck to paycheck”, she said.
In lower Manhattan, those in the crowd carried signs saying, “Lift all boats, not just yachts”, and also referenced other issues, like immigration reform and police shootings.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is giving a raise to thousands of state workers with a decision to increase the minimum wage to $15 for government workers in the executive, legislative and judicial branches.
Advertisement
“These aren’t strikes, they are staged events”, said spokesperson Lisa McComb.
