Nic Smith, a union organizer and self-described “white trash hillbilly,” makes $2.35 per hour plus tips at a waffle house. Below are excerpts from an interview with TYT’s Eric Byler in Dickenson County, Virginia outside McDonalds at a Fight for $15 rally.
“There’s over 25% poverty here. The average annual income is under $25,000. People are relying on public assistance. We need $15. We need a union. A white family dependent on food stamps is going through the same financial struggles as a Black family. Now there are these racial issues that the white poor don’t have to go through. My people aren’t getting shot by the police every week. When it comes to common struggles, we need unity. I grew up where most households were not employed. People were selling drugs. Meth is a big problem. Are you telling me it’s just Black folks on welfare, just Black people selling drugs? No, its poor people. It’s us doing what we got to do to survive. Corporate growth is going up. Wages are stagnant. Top 1% is holding that wealth. Need to redistribute it in the economy. If you are even making $15, you are forced to spend it. You don’t have any other choice. That’s what stimulates the economy.”
