It happened today. Thousands of fast food workers went on strike in hundreds of cities. And they weren’t in the streets alone. SEIU 721 members were there in full force.
Additionally, home care workers were there. Child care workers and teachers. Walmart employees. Adjunct professors. Airport workers. And even a group of Brinks armed guards who spontaneously walked off their jobs this morning. These protests were the most widespread mobilization ever by U.S. workers seeking higher pay.
Tens of thousands of us are demanding $15, fair pay, and union rights in over 300 cities across the globe. Here’s what CHANGE looked like this morning in Los Angeles. Check out some of the pictures on our Flickr page.
From New York to Chicago to Tokyo to Vienna: It’s time for fair pay for all!
“The movement that fast-food cooks and cashiers started has now grown into something much bigger–made up of adjunct professors, home care providers, retail employees, childcare workers, and airport staff–all fighting for a fair shot at a decent life.” said Mary Kay Henry, International President of the Service Employees International Union, which has helped support the Fight for $15. “Working people are going to keep speaking out in the streets, in their communities, and at the ballot box until we raise wages, strengthen the economy, and build a democracy that works for
all families.”
We Are Changing How America Thinks About Wages
The urgent need for solutions to America’s low-wage crisis is already emerging as a key issue in the run-up to the 2016 election. In The New York Times, David Leonhardt wrote, “[a]s the 2016 presidential campaign begins to stir, the central question will be how both parties respond to the great wage slowdown.” And Democrats and leading economic experts are increasingly looking to restore Americans’ rights to form unions as a way to bring balance back to the economy and create jobs that enable more communities to thrive.