Solidarity in the Fight for 15
Activists in several cities report on their local experiences in a one-day strike by fast-food workers fighting for a living wage and union recognition.
September 4, 2013
Fight for 15 strikers rally with supporters outside a Subway (Steve Rhodes)ON AUGUST 19, low-wage workers in some 50 cities across the United States walked off the job at various fast-food restaurants as part of the latest action in the "Fight for 15" campaign for union recognition and a $15 an hour wage.
Since a one-day strike in New York City last year, the Fight for 15 campaign, organized with the help of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), has taken off, in particular among workers in the fast-food industry, who often have to work multiple low-wage jobs in order to barely scrape by. Here are reports from activists in a few of the cities where Fight for 15 workers walked off the job.
-- In Seattle, some 80 fast food workers struck. They met at 3 a.m. on August 29, rallied at 7 a.m. downtown, and marched all day to various fast food outlets to encourage other workers to go out on strike. In some cases, shifts came out and briefly shut down stores.
At 4 p.m., the strikers met with community supporters for a rally of over 200 people. The rally was addressed by several politicians running for election, professing support for the movement. Workers had differing opinions about the support of the politicians. Most were grateful for the support, but some saw the speeches as election-year rhetoric.
Only a couple of fast food workers spoke at the rally, but they conveyed the anger and determination of the movement. Carlos Hernandez said, "We hear the same stories from around the country. People working for eight years with only a 5 cent raise! The owners don't care about the people who work for them. They never say 'thank you.' They need to treat us like human beings!"
Before marching, the rally heard from other speakers from community and labor groups supporting the workers. Unions at the rally included SEIU (especially home care workers represented in Local 775), the Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers, UNITE HERE, and the Our Walmart campaign. Community supporters included members of Working Washington and Fuse Washington.
Kshama Sawant, the socialist candidate for City Council, called for a mass demonstrations and strikes in support of the $15 per hour demand.
At the end of the rally, kicking off the march, teacher Jesse Hagopian, representing the Seattle Education Association (SEA), riled up the crowd. He brought solidarity from the SEA and urged fast-food workers and supporters to also support the teachers in their possible strike that could start next week.
Hagopian stated, "People ask if $15 an hour is an unreasonable demand. What's unreasonable is trying to feed a family on $9 per hour. What's unreasonable is trying to save for your child's college education on $9 an hour. We need solidarity! Remember the old labor slogan: An injury to one is an injury to all!"
After the rally, the crowd, chanting, marched through the Capitol Hill neighborhood to various fast-food outlets. The chants expressed the militancy of the movement: "We want change--and we don't mean pennies," and "Hey people, tell our story, tell the whole wide world--this is workers' territory!"
This was the second fast-food strike in Seattle three months. Unfortunately, it was smaller than the last one in May. Some workers attributed this to the fact that the strike was announced in advance this time, giving bosses time to make preparations and step up intimidation.
In spite of the smaller turnout, workers are determined to keep organizing the Fight for 15.
-- In San Diego, Calif., more than 100 people marched and rallied in front of a Wendy's restaurant downtown to demand a raise and union rights for fast-food workers. Six workers from Wendy's, McDonald's and Subway left work and spoke to the gathering of fellow workers and supporters. Jenny Andrade, who works at Subway, said:
I'm a mom and I struggle because I want to give my daughter the best. I work full-time and go to school full-time. It's hard, college is expensive, and sometimes, I have to work instead of going to school. When my daughter gets sick, I have to take off both to take care of her.I'm here to help my people. It's amazing knowing I can make a change, not just for myself, but for everybody else. I'm trying to make a change by supporting this, and by supporting my dad, who motivated me. My dad is doing life in prison, and he is on a hunger strike.
Diego Rios, who works at McDonald's, was also inspired to take action by family members participating in the ongoing California prison hunger strike:
We need to make a difference, but a lot our coworkers are too scared to stand up, they know it could cost them their job. Some members of my family are in prison on hunger strike. Seeing them take action inspired me. They could lose their lives in this fight, but I'm only risking my job.My grandmother worked at Burger King her whole life and never made over $3.50 an hour. I don't want my kids making only $8 dollars like us now, with no benefits, no vacation and no sick days. Not providing sick days is unsafe--do you really want a sick person handling food? Plus employers find loopholes to get out of giving us our breaks, or paying overtime.Change won't come tomorrow, but even if we have to wait 10 years, it's important to fight now. This will give people an opportunity for a better life.
Several workers mentioned that while dining rooms in their restaurants are kept cool, the kitchens are not air conditioned, and are uncomfortable and unsafe with the record heat and humidity in Southern California.
The following day, activists and rank-and-file members of California Federation of Teachers, SEIU, the Teamsters, and United Auto Workers escorted the workers back to their jobs. There has been no sign of retaliation by employers, but should there be, fellow workers are ready to raise hell.
-- In Madison, Wis., some 60 people gathered at Dunkin' Donuts on State Street at 6 a.m. on August 29 in solidarity with striking workers. With chants of "Come on out, we got your back," the contingent of strikers, organizers and supporters of the campaign moved all around the city to help give workers the confidence necessary to walk out on the job. A total of 20 workers walked off the job, many in defiance of managers who used intimidation tactics to attempt to stop them.
Courtney Gardner says he had never participated in a labor action before he walked out of his McDonald's job on Thursday. He's been working fast food his whole life, and decided that "something has to change."
Despite working there for over a year and being promised two raises, his hourly wage is still the same $7.25 as when he started. With this salary, he can barely support his five kids, and is forced to live out of his car. In this bleak situation, he said the campaign has made him "feel that there's a possibility of change in life." He called the fight for $15 "a little ray of sunshine."
The strikes were successful in shutting down a Family Dollar, which had only one brave worker attending to the entire store; and a Subway, where two workers who had not planned to participate walked out after seeing the support of the solidarity contingent.
At 4:30 p.m., about 150 people gathered at the Library Mall to listen to speeches from local community leaders and politicians. After that, the crowd marched and chanted down State Street up to the Wisconsin State Capitol, the site of the 2011 occupation by union workers and supporters against Gov. Scott Walker.
On the morning of August 30, supporters gathered once again at Dunkin' Donuts early in the morning to help striking workers back to work, and to ensure they would not suffer retaliation for their participation in the strike. One by one, all workers returned to work without incidents, with the community behind their backs.
-- In Austin, Texas, four workers at the Long John Silver's in East Austin and two from the Wendy's went on strike August 29 for a $15 and hour wage and an affirmation of their right to unionize without threat of retaliation.
The striking workers were supported by a coalition of local and national organizations that provided assistance to ensure that the workers would be able to assert their power to strike without being fired, and also helped them to mobilize hundreds of supporters.
At 5 p.m. on the preceding Wednesday, two employees at the Wendy's in East Austin presented management with signed statements that they were going on strike for unfair labor practices, including intimidation of workers who want to form a union.
The Wendy's franchise received pamphlets from their corporate office ahead of the strike outlining a response. The franchise called the police, who arrived to disperse strikers and supporters and issued trespassing warnings. The workers, however, remained on strike for 24 hours. Faith leaders, members of the National Lawyers Guild and union activists were present upon their return to ensure that retaliatory measures would not be taken against them.
At the Long John Silver's location, four workers went on strike. As with Wendy's, members of the SEIU and the Workers Defense Project were on site when they walked off the job at 8:30 a.m. on August 29. No police were called and the strike action proceeded smoothly. The workers returned to their jobs the next day without being punished by management.
A rally of 300 people was held near the University of Texas in solidarity with the fast-food strike. The location was picked because it was close to a number of chain restaurants and because it would draw out students. The rally and strikes garnered local media attention.
Bo Elder, Steve Leigh, Icho Schmaluf and Matthew Wackerle contributed to this article.
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