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Japan Builds a Fight for $15 Movement of its Own

Lisa Torio Waging Nonviolence
Japanese activists have launched their own Fight for $15 movement, calling for a national minimum wage of 1500 yen per hour. The activists were inspired by the US movement, but also many of them were moved to get involved in social justice work after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. The movement wants to raise wages but also build a broader movement to counter the growing right-wing and anti-immigrant forces in Japan.

Fight for $15 Organizers Tell SEIU: We Need $15 and a Union

David Moberg In These Times
Fight for $15 organizers have a long list of grievances against SEIU. They say they themselves do not get $15/hour. They are worried about the instability of their jobs and a tendency of the union to ramp up staff for one campaign, then shift only some of the staff to the next project. Ultimately, some workers say, SEIU's position may undermine public support and open up lines for employer attacks. See SEIU's response below.

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Washington, D.C. Lawmakers Approve $15 Minimum Wage, Joining N.Y., Calif.

Aaron C. Davis The Washington Post
The District’s move is the latest in a series of unexpected and rapid-fire victories for the $15-minimum-wage movement. What began as an audacious push by fast-food workers just a few years ago is evolving into a new labor standard, with state lawmakers in California and New York agreeing to implement a $15 minimum wage by 2022 and legislatures in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey weighing similar measures.

And a Union

Stephanie Luce Jacobin
After Occupy in 2011, and the wave of fast-food strikes the following year in New York City, the movement to raise wages took a new turn and a bolder stance: $15 an hour and a union. When the campaign first began, that pay demand seemed like a pipe dream. Yet the call for $15 resonated. Now, the movement has scored victories in two of the biggest states in the country.

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This Is What $15 an Hour Looks Like

Gabriel Thompson The Nation - Jan. 25/Feb. 1, 2016 issue
In July, Emeryville, California, passed the highest city-wide minimum wage in the country. Here's how workers' lives changed - and didn't. As the gears of federal government have ground to a halt, a new energy has been rocking the foundations of our urban centers. From Atlanta to Seattle and points in between, cities have begun seizing the initiative, transforming themselves into laboratories for progressive innovation.

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How New York's "Fight for $15" Launched a Nationwide Movement

Wendi C. Thomas and Frederick McKissack, Jr. The American Prospect
The combination of fed-up workers, motivated organizers, and political opportunity created a perfect storm for New York City's carwasheros and fast-food workers in the fight for $15.

Millennials Can No Longer Be Silent About Our Broken System. They Are Moving, Demonstrating and Revitalizing Movements for Social Change

Yong Jung Cho, Waleed Shahid, Devontae Torriente, Sara Blaz
Fifty years ago, young people inspired and moved our whole country away from Jim Crow, war and McCarthyism in the 60s. Today a new generation of young activists are inspiring and moving our country. Today's youth are active for justice, jobs, immigrant rights, against police murder and racism, peace, and are revitalizing the labor movement. Just this week, from Missouri to the Fight for $15 actions, young people are again inspiring a generation and the whole country.

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Cuomo to Create $15 Minimum Wage for New York State Workers

Jesse McKinley The New York Times
New York Gov. Andrew announced his support for a $15 minimum wage for state employees on the same day that fast-food workers across the country demonstrated for better pay and union representation. All told, 10,000 New York pubic employees will receive a pay bump. In July, Cuomo increased the minimum wage for fast-food workers in New York through a state wage board.

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Connecting the Dots Between the “Identity Politics” of Black Lives Matter and Class Politics

Ethan Corey Working In These Times
“There is space for us to fight along multiple dimension at once. We don’t have to pick one. I don’t have to be a worker today, a queer person tomorrow, a woman tonight. I can be all of those things, all at once, hallelujah.“ It’s not about identity politics. It’s about our lives. The very sanctity of our lives is at stake. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
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