The following are excerpts from an article by Jake Johnson, published in Common Dreams on February 16, 2021, prior to Congress removing the $15 minimum wage bill from the stimulus bill; plus information from press releases.
Photo: NC Raise Up / Twitter
Fast food workers and other low-paid frontline employees walked off the job in more than a dozen cities across the U.S. to demand at least $15 an hour, collective bargaining rights, and better conditions from their ultra-profitable employers—and to throw their support behind the ongoing congressional effort to raise the federal minimum wage after more than a decade of inaction.
“We’re on strike to remind our employers that we are the company,” Eric Winston, a Cracker Barrel employee, said at a rally outside a McDonald’s in Durham, NC. “Us, the workers, we are the engine that runs your businesses. So protect us, respect our voices, and pay us enough, now.”
Denise, a home care worker from Kissimmee, Florida, said during a local action that the $9 an hour she currently makes is not enough income to provide for her family and demanded that Congress take action. “That’s why I’m speaking out today to demand $15 an hour,” said Denise. “We are asking members of Congress to support home care and pass a $15 minimum wage.”
Democrats need to overrule the Senate parliamentarian and pass the bill, said Rev. Dr. William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign. “We are seeing a robbing of the rights of the poor . . . a clear violation of the . . . Constitution . . . it’s catering to the corporate bloc in this country. It’s stomping on the hopes and dreams of [those] who kept this economy alive in a pandemic . . . And no parliamentary issue [was] brought up when . . . 84% of the first COVID bill went to banks or corporations . . .” (Democracy, Now!)
The American people need to join this fight — it will impact everyone’s future.
Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams.
@johnsonjakep •jake@commondreams.org
