Although the movement started with fast food workers, most of the speakers at the rally work for nonprofits, many heavily funded with Medicaid, state child care subsidies or other state programs.
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Here are a few of the images of the strikes and protests across the country. “Put $15 on our check!” said a tweet from @FightFor15Mass, a Boston group organizing protests outside a McDonald’s there. The policy also enables workers to accrue paid time off after one year of service.
They’re flexing their political muscles in San Diego as California Speaker Toni Atkins is expected to join their rally today.
McDonald’s in downtown Pittsburgh is closed due to strike!
“There’s so many people here that work very hard to service the people that live here, to make their lives great here”, said Judy Dempsey, who organized the rally as part of Florida’s Fight For $15. “It starts right here, right now”, said Cosby. The union has not yet endorsed a Democratic candidate for president, and it is not clear whether it will do so while the primary is still being contested.
It includes fast food, home care, students and faculty. It was part of a nationwide strike that organizers say happened in 270 USA cities. Around 1.3 million workers earn the minimum wage nationally, with an additional 1.7 million earning less than the federal floor of $7.25 an hour. They plan to walk to city halls in their cities and end up with thousands of them showing up to protest at the Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee on Tuesday night. The statewide minimum wage is $9 an hour but is set to increase to $10 an hour in January.
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Brown supports better wages and benefits for all American workers including legislation to ensure equal pay for equal work, grant paid sick leave for workers, give workers more stable schedules, protect pregnant workers froM discrimination, and increase the minimum wage. The ad highlighted results from a survey, conducted for the group by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, which showed that three-fourths of the surveyed economists say a $15 minimum wage would reduce the number of jobs available, particularly for younger and less experienced workers. “They are all included because they are all living below the poverty level”, said Maria Zarate, one of the protesters.
