Massive protest by low-wage workers
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VOL. 33, NO. 5, MAY 2015 WWW.SOCIALISTACTION.ORG U.S. / CANADA $1 Back page: Baltimore explodes after Gray killing.
“Largest Protest By Low Wage Work ers In US History.” That was the Brit ish Guardian headline above a per ceptive story about the 4/15 4 15 ac tions by Steven Greenhouse and Jana Kasperkevic. They wrote, “Some 60,000 workers took part in the Fight for $15 demonstrations....
“The demonstrations were the latest in a series of strikes that began with fast-food workers in New York in No vember 2012. The movement has since attracted groups outside the restaurant industry: Wednesday’s protesters in cluded home-care assistants, Walmart workers, child-care aides, airport work ers, adjunct professors and other low-wage workers. It also sparked interna tional support, with people protesting Tony Savino / Socialist Action against low wages in Brazil, New Zea Tony Savino / Socialist Action land and the UK.”
Before analyzing this historic mo bilization, it’s useful to review how it played out in some of the more than 200 cities involved.
Soles on the Ground Agence France-Presse estimated that 15,000 took part in actions in New York City. Writing in the In These Times Working blog, Andrew Elrod described some unexpected augmenting of Fast Food workers: “From Canarsie, Brook lyn to Lincoln Center, workers in New York rallied in support of a $15 mini mum wage on Wednesday. The most recent day of action in the nearly threeyear-old Fight for $15 campaign includ ed protests from racial justice activists (continued on page 5, in “Imperialism’s terrorist war in Syria”)
Bangladesh — 2 NGOs & civil society — 6 Trotsky “conspiracy” — 10 Mumia / Malcolm — 3 Panama Summit — 7 Canada news — 11 Syria / Yemen — 4 Dominican Republic — 9 Freddie Gray — 12
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(Left) Rana Plaza victim Mahinur Begum on tour to press workers’s demands. She points to clothes on sale that she had worked on as a seamstress.
Workers often toiled in these sweatshops for as little as $39 a month. In December, the Bangladesh government raised the minimum factory wage to $68 a month—still below the $100 demanded by work ers. Workers who protest poor wages and working conditions, including safety and sanitation viola tions, are often victimized and even face physical as sault. For that reason, demands by supporters of the Rana Plaza workers include safeguarding the right to unionize.
On the second anniversary of the disaster, many demonstrations took place outside garment retailers such as Walmart, JC Penney, Zara, and Mango—which continue to market clothing that was produced at Rana Plaza. Protesters demanded that the survivors and their families receive full compensation, and that all apparel brands and retailers doing business in Bangladesh sign the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety.
According to the International Labor Organiza
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INSIDE SOCIALIST U.S. set back at Panama Summit