We want to thank everyone who called Councilman Greenlee’s office to show your support for the 15/hour Charter Amendment. Councilman Goode will be introducing the legislation today for Kenyata Johnson who has a family emergency, and Greenlee has said he will not block it – but we are still waiting for a timeline that will ensure the question is on the November ballot. All your calls made a difference!!!
Not surprised? Neither are we!
From South to North, and East to West we marched, rallied, mic checked, and occupied for $15/hour and a union. The chants “15 Now!”, and “We Work! We Sweat! Put 15 On Our Check!” echoed throughout the city.
At Temple University students, faculty and food service workers struck, rallied and marched out to join the action. Temple 15Now invaded the University President Theobald’s Barbecue to deliver a letter demanding 15 and union for all Temple U. employees. Then they occupied and mic checked Morgan Hall to speak out against low wages, poverty, institutional racism and the university’s role in gentrifying the neighborhood. After being escorted out by the Temple Police, the Students and faculty got on a bus to the McDonalds at 40th and Walnut to join a rally of hundreds of students and workers on strike for $15 and a union. Workers shared their stories and students gave speeches in solidarity as McDonalds workers and police watched on. After shutting down the McDonalds, they marched together down Chestnut St to the 30th St. Bridge. Onlookers and workers joined the crowd and a drum line beat time while the marchers chanted “straight from the 215, we’re fighting for $15 and doing it live.”
15Now Philly hit the McDonald’s and Popeye’s at Broad and Carpenter, for a spirited mic check that communicated our mission, asked on-duty workers to join the cause and outlined the legal rights of fast-food workers to engage in unionizing activity without retaliation during their personal or on-duty break time. Then we took the street and marched, chanted and sang our way north on Broad Street, right through the heart of City Hall and on to the McD’s at Broad and Arch Street.
Multiple marches converged downtown and SEIU 32BJ, Fight For 15, and 15Now were joined by a diverse cross-section of local unions and community organizations. As the crowd swelled to over 1000 we marched through Center City stopping at several corporate headquarters for brief remarks then danced and chanted to a final rally at 30th Street Station to meet the march from West Philly. A successful day, but just another in a series of small steps along the way to our ultimate goal. 15 Now Philly stands committed to building on these successes, broadening our coalition and keeping the pressure on State and City elected officials to meet our demand for a $15 minimum wage now.
These meetings are open to all workers as a space to learn about organizing history, share common experiences and skills.
This Saturday the Council will be discussing the importance of STRIKES and MASS ACTIONS throughout history. We’ll be talking about the 1934 Teamsters strike in Minneapolis, the Memphis Sanitation worker strike in 1968, and the Fast Food Strikes of today!
Then next Wednesday April 15th will see the largest action ever of low wage workers fighting for a $15/hour minimum wage, with 60,000 low-wage workers and supporters in over 200 cities participating. Fast food workers will be joined by adjunct college faculty, retail and airport workers, home health care aids, and groups formed out of the historic #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Starting in December 2012 with a strike of fast food workers in New York City, this movement has spread like wildfire across the US and has shown the way forward in the fight against historic levels of inequality. According to a January Hart Research poll, 63% of the country now supports a $15 federal minimum wage. Support is even higher in most big cities.
Everywhere, anger at corporate greed – and the extreme wealth and racial inequities – is reaching a boiling point. The fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage has the potential to become a powerful mass movement uniting low-wage workers demanding union rights, people of color standing up against racism, and young people facing a dead-end future.
