Where did the #FightFor15 Start?
Just over two years ago, hundreds of people who work in fast food restaurants in New York City went on strike. They called for a $15/hour minimum wage and the right to form a union. Since then, the movement has spread to 160 cities and 15 countries, and continues to grow into new industries such as home health care, airports, university adjunct faculty and convenience stores. With such unprecedented growth, the Washington Post writes, “The Fight For $15 is For Everyone Now.”
St. Louis was the third city to join the movement for $15 and a Union, and OBS has been part of that fight from the beginning. We are making moves in the midwest to bring economic justice to the forefront of our public agenda. From Ferguson to Festus, Show Me 15 is determine to make 2015 the year we win $15.
What’s the problem with poverty wages?
When large, profitable corporations like McDonald’s hold down wages and benefits, it hurts all of us by slowing down the economy for everybody. Ordinary people who work hard can’t afford the basics—like groceries, rent, or transportation—and the purchasing power in our neighborhoods is reduced. Moreover, a study by the National Employment Law Project found that McDonald’s and the fast food industry cost taxpayers 7 Billion in public assistance each year.
So not only have corporations wiped out millions of good, middle class jobs during the recession. Now they want new jobs to pay as little as possible. In fact, Newsweek reports that New Jobs After the Recession Pay 23% Less.
Why OBS joined the #FightFor15
Nearly four-in-ten Americans who work in jobs that pay the minimum wage are people of color. Boosting the minimum wage will help all Americans, including people of color, break down barriers to success and remove obstacles to economic stability. For us, raising the minimum wage is raising the quality of life for Black people and all people.
What’s Next?
By sticking together, people in the Fight for $15 are making change happen and are getting heard. On April 15th, stand with us as we fight for jobs that give our friends, our neighbors, and our families a fair shot at a secure future.
Register today at april15.org
For the latest:
showme15.org fb.com/showme15 @Show_Me15
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The killings of Mike Brown, Kajieme Powell, Vonderrit Myers and others are not the result of abnormal incidents resulting in accidents, nor do these killings reflect “one bad apple” police officer. It is a manifestation of a system of policing that is unaccountable, out of control and acts from its worst impulses of racism and aggression. It sees black and brown citizens as individual targets and whole communities as collective threats. The existing situation means that too frequently there will be random and unlawful executions of individual targets, and police forces will have negative and even predatory relationships with the communities that they are supposed to be serving and protecting, instead of killing and harassing.