Fight for $15 on April 15

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INSIDE Fight for Fifteen 4/15 — It’s an easy date to remember; April 15 is income tax day in the USA. This year there will be marches and rallies in most cities across the country. But these protests are not against the tax—un­ fair as it may be. Instead, they are the next step forward in mobilizing broad working-class support in the communities for boosting pay of the working poor to at least $15 an hour.

There are two distinct components of this movement. One is union based, targeting specific employers or in­ dustries. SEIU’s Fifteen and a Union campaigns in Fast Food, Home Care, and Airport Service industries have been the vanguard, but there have been significant efforts by UFCW, AF­ SCME, and UE as well—going after big-box retail, logistics, and statefunded child care workers.

(Photo) Fast-food workers rally in New York City in 2014.

There has also been a comple­ mentary fight by 15 Now coalitions working to win municipal and state 15-dollar minimum-wage laws cov­ ering all workers. The first big break­ through for this wing came in Seattle, where 100,000 low-paid workers are receiving substantial raises in stages on the road to fifteen. While state and local legal opportunities and ob­ stacles vary considerably, there are promising coalitions in Oregon and Minnesota among others.

These actions have already won some material gains through mod­ est hikes in the minimum wage in several states and cities, as well as “voluntary” raises by all of the major big-box retail chains. Most have been in the $9-$10 range. While any raise is welcomed by the low paid, these have to be considered token down payments on the $15 goal.

Fast food has not been so “gener­ ous.” Its industry trade group recent­ ly went to court in Seattle seeking exemption from the new minimum wage law for franchises of national chains. So far, its defense of “small business” has been rejected, but it will likely continue to pay lawyers $400 an hour to try to get out of $15 for their workers.

I’ve been on the SEIU mailing list since back in the day of Chairman An­ dy’s Purple Army. It’s not often that I have occasion to favorably quote top union officials, but an excerpt from an e-blast from current SEIU presi­ dent Mary Kay Henry is worth pass­ ing along:

“This movement that was started by fast-food cooks and cashiers has ex­ ploded to include people who work at Walmart, airport baggage handlers and passenger service attendants, home care providers, child care work­ ers, adjunct college faculty, and other underpaid people who want to create jobs that pay people enough to actu­ ally live on. Together, we are fighting for an economy that works for all of (continued on page 2, in “Philly rallies for $15 wage”)

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Chris Fascenelli / Philadelphia Inquirer

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