Presidential candidates promise higher wages, stronger unions at Las Vegas forum

Restaurant worker and Fight for $15 organizer Terrence Wise said between the struggle to increase wages and lawmakers strangling efforts for people to join unions, workers face a broken system.

“Companies like McDonald’s pay us so little, that we have to rely on government assistance just to get by,” Wise said. “That ain’t right. They are making record profits — millions of dollars off the backs of workers like myself.”

During a presidential forum on wages and workers, his summation of the economic plight faced by people in low-wage jobs, many who are people of color, as well as his call for candidates to have concrete plans on how they would solve it received applause that rivaled any received by the candidates.

Hosted by SEIU and the Center for American Progress, the Saturday workers forum heard remarks from U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Gov. John Hickenlooper.

Read more: https://www.nevadacurrent.com/2019/04/27/presidential-candidates-promise-higher-wages-stronger-unions-at-las-vegas-forum/