Fight for $15

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John,

Our fight started ten years ago with a demand for a decent wage, but from the beginning it was about more than just the size of our paychecks.

It's about living full lives with our families free from impossible choices like paying for rent or food. It's about hardworking people with full-time incomes not living in poverty in the richest nation on earth. It's about dignity.

For ten years, workers like me have been fighting, marching and STRIKING because we know we're worth more. When we first started, most people thought the idea of a $15 minimum wage was impossible. Today, we have won it for more than 26 million workers across the country. Take a look at all we've won, and sign this letter in solidarity [[link removed]]

Being a part of the Fight for $15 and a Union movement has made a difference in every one of our lives. This movement is bigger than any one of us.

At the age of 16, I was a promising student with straight As who would one day come home from school and realize I couldn't do my homework because the lights had been cut off. I would soon get a part-time job at Taco Bell making less than $5 per hour to help my family make ends meet. Unlike many other kids who got to celebrate their first paycheck, my first check of $150 went straight to the light bill. I would quickly learn that having two part-time jobs would not be enough to help the family put food on the table and keep the lights on. Although I would often get praise from my teachers who would say, “Terrence you're going to do great things. You can be anything.” The reality of the struggles at home would eventually force me to leave high school and my dream of going to college behind.

At the age of 17, I became a full-time fast-food worker like my mother, and I am still one today at the age of 43.

Now a father with a family of my own, I typically work two jobs, and have little time to see or spend time with my family. My three daughters have already seen and endured more than anyone should -- food insecurity, going without heat, being homeless and living out of a minivan.

But with all we've achieved, I know that we can stop the fast-food worker cycle and end generational poverty.

When I joined the Fight for $15 and a Union movement nearly 10 years ago, I was fighting to ensure my mother's past and my present were not going to be my daughters' future. The Fight for $15 and a Union has helped to shape the conversation regarding fair wages and has allowed me to travel to the White House and speak on Capitol Hill as a voice for low wage workers seeking economic justice. This movement has changed my life and has given my entire family a voice. My daughters march on the front lines with me during strikes and rallies. They understand what it means to fight for justice and do whatever it takes to create new paths so that the promise America made to each of us -- regardless of race or where we live -- isn't just a dream.

Big and small, we're racking up wins across the country and taking our power back from the bosses.

Today, I'm celebrating. And tomorrow, I'm continuing the fight -- there is still plenty of work to do. We won't stop until EVERY worker has the dignity, respect and union rights we deserve. Sign in support of worker power [[link removed]]

In solidarity,

Terrence Wise
Fast-Food Worker
Kansas City
Fight for $15 and a Union

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