Big Winners on Election Day: Low-Wage Workers:
An estimated 609,000 low-wage workers won pay raises Tuesday night as voters in Arkansas, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Alaska overwhelmingly approved measures to raise the minimum wage. The New York Times editorial board wrote Wednesday that the 100 percent success rate for the initiatives makes clear that opponents of higher pay “could pay a price in the 2016 elections, when lower-wage workers and those who support them could turn out in higher numbers.”
Oakland joined San Francisco in approving a substantial pay raise for low-wage workers, voting in favor of a measure to increase the city’s minimum wage to $12.25 per hour by next year. Voters in Illinois and counties throughout Wisconsin also approved advisory initiatives in support of raising the state minimum wage.
What San Francisco and Multnomah County Now Have in Common: $15 Per Hour:
More than 140,000 workers in San Francisco won a pay raise to $15 per hour Tuesday as voters approved a ballot measure to increase the city’s minimum wage. The victory in San Francisco is yet another sign of how fast-food workers have set the standard for a living wage across the country: as Businessweek noted, “That $15 figure isn’t an accident. It’s been a rallying cry of fast-food workers and other low-wage employees who’ve staged a series of high-profile strikes, beginning with a one-day walkout in New York two years ago this month.”
And indeed, while much attention was focused on San Francisco this week, workers across the country won a number of under-the-radar victories to raise pay to $15 per hour in recent weeks in cities across the country:
- Multnomah County, OR: County workers in Multnomah County on Wednesday reached an agreement with the county board on a new contract to raise pay to $15 per hour by 2016. County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury praised the $15 wage as “a model for how we treat working families.”
- Portland, OR: Workers at Home Forward, the city housing authority in Portland, OR, will see a pay raise to $15 per hour effective December 1st of this year under a new contract announced earlier this week.
- Rochester, NY: Late last month, service workers at University of Rochester won a new contract that will raise pay to $15 per hour by 2017. The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle notes that the victory arrives after workers at the university “challenged UR to join in the ‘Fight for Fifteen’ campaign that has involved low-wage workers nationwide.”
- Seattle, WA: City council members in Seattle announced this week a new proposal to raise pay for city employees to $15 per hour by January 1st of 2015 – six years ahead of when the city-wide minimum wage is scheduled to rise to $15 per hour.
With a steady drumbeat of victories for $15 per hour now unfolding across the country – just two years after fast-food workers first went on strike in New York City in November 2012 – it’s clear that the movement for a living wage will only continue to grow. As Anne Marie Cunningham, a resident of an senior affordable housing center and ally of home care workers fighting for a living wage wrote in a letter to the Chicago Sun-Times this week, “Some lawmakers may think ‘throwing a bone’ to low-wage workers will suffice, but the fight for $15 isn’t going away any time soon.”
Jobs Up – But Wages Remain Flat:
Employment numbers released on Friday showed the U.S. gained 214,000 jobs last month, but unsurprisingly most of the gains were in low-wage industries including food services and retail. Experts noted that while jobs may be returning, the country still faces a serious problem with wages.
On the Ground in the Cities:
- New York, NY: Papa John’s worker Shantel Walker was a featured guest at NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s victory party Tuesday night. Mr. Schneiderman praised Walker and other fast-food workers, noting that his office has recovered millions in stolen wages thanks to leaders in the fast-food workers’ movement.
- Chicago, IL: McDonald’s workers protested Friday outside the company’s flagship restaurant in Downtown Chicago to demand an end to the verbal abuse and harassment that is rampant in the fast-food industry – particularly for women workers.
- Los Angeles, CA: Two fast-food worker leaders from Fight for $15 LA delivered testimony before the LA City Council this week in support of a proposal to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour.
Fast-Food Workers Announce Global Tour:
McDonald’s workers from New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles will travel to eight countries on three continents beginning Monday with the goal of enlisting fast-food workers, unions, and elected officials in support of the global movement for higher pay and union rights.
Fast-Food Worker Tweets of the Week:
- Nancy Salgado, Chicago, IL – @yaired06: I’m sitting in the DHS office to finally get my Link Card bc I can’t survive on Mc wages thank @McDonalds http://bit.ly/13SXT7s
- Shymara Jones, Philadelphia, PA — @Cocochanel_93: Jaden is why I #fightfor15because @PopeyesChicken low pay is real scary http://bit.ly/1qu0sla