Vol. 80/No. 17      May 2, 2016

 

Protests across country demand $15/hour and union

 
“We work, we sweat, put $15 on our check!” was one of the chants as thousands of workers across the U.S. rallied April 14 demanding $15 an hour and a union. Fast-food, retail, home health care, airport, child care workers and others were part of the actions. Protests took place in many other countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, France, South Korea and the following day in Canada.

Unionists on strike against telecommunications giant Verizon bolstered the protests in New York and elsewhere on the East Coast.

Fast-food workers from the East Bay Organizing Committee led a march in San Francisco and another of 500 in downtown Oakland, California. The state government recently passed a law to raise the minimum wage to $15 over six years, with an “off-ramp” clause to cancel the increase if there is an economic downturn or budget deficit. “2022 is not soon enough,” said Isaiah Mitchell, 20, who works at Jack in the Box. “With the high cost of living, we need $15 now and $17 or $18 later!”

Activities began on Chicago’s South Side at dawn and took place throughout the day. About 1,000 people, led by a mariachi band, converged at the Rock and Roll McDonald’s to complete the day with a rally, joined by high school students and members of neighborhood and immigrant rights organizations.

“We are not afraid,” Lucina Gutierrez told the Militant at the rally. “If you are afraid, you will never win anything.” Gutierrez has worked at McDonald’s in nearby Cicero for 18 years.

That sentiment was echoed by McDonald’s worker Timothy Thigpen at a rally of 100 people in St. Paul, Minnesota. “I am out here to tell the community, don’t be scared. We need $15.”

Some 750 people rallied at the University of Pittsburgh, including 30 members of the United Food and Commercial Workers from Giant Eagle grocery and workers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, whose protests recently won a promise for raises over several years. “This victory came with hard work, and it is just a promise,” said medical center worker Lou Berry. “We need $15 and a union.”

In Atlanta, 120 workers rallied outside a downtown McDonald’s. “It’s not right we have to work two or three jobs just to provide for our families,” said Ileshia Reid, 30, a home health worker at her first demonstration.

“We shall not be moved,” sang several dozen members of Service Employees International Union Local 1199 at a vigil at the Hillcrest Health Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hollywood, Florida. They and workers at 18 other nursing homes owned by Consulate Health Care were holding a 24-hour strike for $15 an hour. “We barely get by, and we have no retirement or health benefits,” nurses assistant Theadora Greensmith told the Militant.

Actions took place across Canada April 15, including some 18 protests in Ontario, the most populous province.

Carole Lesnick in Oakland, California; Anthony Dutrow in Miami; Janice Lynn in Atlanta; Toni Gorton in Toronto; Phil Norris in Pittsburgh; and Helen Meyers in Minneapolis contributed to this article.
 
 
Related articles:
Verizon strikers: Time to say no to concessions!
Stand in solidarity with 40,000 strikers
Teamsters hold DC rally to demand halt to pension cuts
On the Picket Line
Labor actions rise in China as bosses slash jobs, wages
Fight for pensions for entire working class
 
 
 
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