Fast food workers head for Detroit convention as momentum grows for $15

http://www.workdayminnesota.org/articles/fast-food-workers-head-detroit-convention-momentum-grows-15

By Howard Kling
June 6, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS
Fast-food workers and allies rallied outside the McDonald’s on Stinson Boulevard Friday to support a likely New York victory for $15 per hour and to call on Minnesota to follow suit. The rally was also a send-off for eight Twin Cities workers who will be in Detroit this weekend for a national convention of the fast food organizing movement.

“What’s happening in New York, that’s where the Fight for $15 started in 2012,” said Stephanie Gasca, a fast food organizer with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). Gasca will be traveling to Detroit with the workers.

“We’re all really excited to go to Detroit and meet with over 1,000 national leaders in this fight and continue to figure out how we’re going to win $15 an hour all over the country.”

The second “Fight for $15” convention in Detroit comes amidst significant momentum in the movement for better wages. On Wednesday, June 4, the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to adopt a plan to raise the minimum wage for 800,000 workers. Today, a Wage Board appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held its first public hearing in Buffalo, NY, to consider a significant bump in pay for fast-food workers. And a St. Louis bill to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 is expected to be filed next week.

FULL story at link.



Published on Jun 6, 2015
http://www.workdayminnesota.org
Minneapolis, 6/5/15

Fast-food workers and allies rallied outside the McDonald’s on Stinson Boulevard Friday to support a likely victory in New York for $15 per hour and to call on Minnesota to follow suit. The rally was also a send-off for 8 Twin Cities workers who will be in Detroit this weekend for a national convention of the fast food organizing movement.

“What’s happening in New York, that’s where the Fight for $15 started in 2012,” said Stephanie Gasca, a fast food organizer with Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha (CTUL). Gasca will be traveling to Detroit with the workers.

“We’re all really excited to go to Detroit and meet with over 1,000 national leaders in this fight and continue to figure out how we’re going to win $15 an hour all over the country.”

The second “Fight for $15” convention in Detroit comes amidst significant momentum in the movement for better wages. On Wednesday, June 4, the Los Angeles City Council voted 13-1 to adopt a plan to raise the minimum wage for 800,000 workers. As Minnesota workers rallied today, a Wage Board appointed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo held its first public hearing in Buffalo, NY, to consider a significant bump in pay for fast-food workers. A St. Louis bill to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 is expected to be filed next week.

“We’re calling on elected officials nationwide to follow New York’s leadership, to follow New York’s example,” said Veronica Mendez Moore, co-director of CTUL. “and to call on the multi-billion dollar corporations like McDonald’s and Burger King and Wendy’s to raise the wage to $15 per hour so that workers can provide for their families . . . and so workers don’t have to be homeless in a city where there are so many possibilities.”

“$15 an hour would mean I could find an apartment,” said 56 year-old Teresa Benson who works at the Stinson McDonald’s. “I’m here to fight for $15 an hour like they accomplished in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and to show support for our brothers and sisters in New York.”

“Who wants to be working for $8 an hour for six years and still struggling – you have to choose what bills to pay, come up with bus fare, cuz I know I struggle with that every day,” said Amanda Merritt who works at the Burger King on Stinson Blvd. Merritt will be at the Detroit convention.

“We won’t get a thing unless we’re a union, as one. We think as one, we function as one, everything is going to come together as one. That’s why I joined CTUL, to fight for $15 an hour.”