John,
When 200 fast food-workers went on strike and demanded $15 an hour in 2012, it seemed like a faraway dream. To CEOs and their politician friends, paying workers $15/hr was a joke.
That is until we marched, protested, went on strike, and shut down their stores. Through our fight, we won over $150 billion in raises for 26 million workers nationwide. And we changed the conversation about wages in this country forever.
More than a decade after we started this movement, most of us agree that $15 is no longer enough to survive. Even while the federal minimum wage remains immorally low, we know we need more to thrive.
Our fight goes beyond a number. And it always has. It’s about respect, racial justice, improved living conditions, and a say in our lives. Building real power means demanding transformational, lasting change. That is why we’re proud now to call ourselves Fight for a Union.
The rules on how corporations treat workers in our country were intentionally written to exclude many of us, divide us by race and gender, and limit the power of working people. It’s time to rewrite the rules so that ALL workers have a seat at the table for good. To win raises, to make our jobs better and safer, and to build power together.
Over the last year, we saw record numbers of workers go on strike and win major gains. From Hollywood to Detroit and beyond, we saw firsthand the power of workers when we come together in our unions.
And now, more and more of us are fighting for a union and the changes that come with it. Starbucks workers organized and are sitting down to negotiate their first contract. Volkswagen workers made history by becoming the first auto workers at a new company in the south to organize in a generation. And in California, we’re pioneering new ways to force all bosses to sit down with us as fast-food workers. Not only did we win $20 an hour, but we created space for us to continue to push for more as costs rise.
But it shouldn’t take years and years of fighting, legal battles, union-buster attacks, and intimidation just to get a seat at the table. It’s time to change the rules for all workers.
That's why we are unwavering in our demand for every worker to have a union. A union is not just a means to negotiate better wages and benefits; it is our pathway to lasting power and the end of living paycheck to paycheck. And we refuse to settle for anything less.
We need real, long-term power, and a voice. Stand with us in the Fight for a Union!
In Solidarity and Power,
Anneisha Williams
Jack in the Box Worker
Los Angeles, California
Fight for a Union
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