Taken together, the history, economy & ruling ideology of the US South make it difficult to build workers’ power. But armed with the lessons from the CIO’s Operation Dixie, & fueled by the momentum of recent victories, organizers see a way forward.
Workers are celebrating minimum-wage increases around the country, but the new frontier is already creeping toward $20.
Alabama tries to ban the NAACP in 1956. Freedom Summer under the gun in 1964. Cigarette health warning in 1965. Protesters killed in DC in 1932. "Fight for 15" in 2013. Federal health insurance for some in 1965. Black Power in 1966.
The Case for a $20/Hour Minimum Wage. The Beat, It Travels: Reggaeton. Boebert and Hannity Clash, Republicans Turn On Trump. How Physicists Created a Holographic Wormhole. What New Zealand Can Teach Us About Reparations.
Workers say the $15 minimum wage is now unlivable. NY State Senator Jessica Ramos is leading a bill to raise the minimum wage to $20/hour and index it to inflation.
Federal lawmakers failed to increase the minimum wage, but US workers made other gains, and they are setting their sights on new goals. But across the country, states and companies have raised wages in the wake of Fight for $15’s efforts.
A system counting tips toward the minimum wage is being fought in many places.
"The Saturday we went on strike was a powerful day. I felt like we were standing up for ourselves and for all the other underpaid, unappreciated workers who needed a change. I knew that my voice was going to make a difference."
A bill - BA 257 - aimed to create a fast food sector council to set minimum industry standards on wages, working hours, health and safety and other working conditions - is expected to come before the senate appropriations committee on August 11.
California was the first state to implement a $15 minimum wage, and is now at the forefront of raising the wage floor, fast becoming the Fight for $20 and a Union. Can the minimum wage issue impact the mid-term elections?
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