August, 15 2016, 11:30am EDT
At First-Ever Fight for $15 Convention, Workers Adopt 'Richmond Resolution,' Vow to Champion $15, Union Rights Through 2016 Election Season and Beyond
64 Million Paid Less than $15 Pledge Massive Protests for Higher Pay at Presidential, VP Debates this Fall
Richmond, Va.
Thousands of underpaid Americans from around the country and across the economy took to the streets of Richmond Saturday, bringing to an emphatic conclusion a two-day convention at which working families fighting for $15 and union rights promised to hold elected officials accountable on Election Day and every day thereafter to build an economy that works for everyone.
The workers held their convention in Richmond - the former capital of the old Confederacy - to highlight the enduring effects of racist policies that are holding back low-paid working families of color today. Four hundred years of slavery and segregation, combined with 40 years of anti-union policies, have had a disastrous effect on tens of millions of working Americans.
"We abolished slavery more than 150 years ago, but its legacy is still felt in economic policies and working conditions that hold back Black and Latino working people across America," said Sepia Coleman, a home care worker from Memphis, Tennessee. "When you add in decades of attacks on workers who organized unions, you get a devastating result that has left tens of millions of us unable to support our families. We're all in the same boat now, so we have no choice but to row together and row forcefully."
Before they took off on their march, people who work in sectors across America's economy - spanning fast-food, home care, child care, higher education, retail, manufacturing, and agriculture - unanimously passed the "Richmond Resolution," (see attached for text) vowing to intensify their fight for $15/hour and union rights with massive protests to hit the presidential and vice presidential debates this fall.
Before the vote, a group of fast-food cooks and cashiers from Memphis led the crowd in a chant: "Eyes on '16, we want $15."
Working-class voters also resolved to push cities and states throughout the old Confederacy to raise wages, in defiance of powerful interests that have sought to block higher pay across the South. And the Fight for $15 committed to link arms with faith and civil rights leaders nationwide in a wave of rallies at state capitols on Sept. 12 to call on lawmakers from state senators to governors to advance moral policies like a living wage, voting rights and criminal justice reform.
"Centuries of racism ingrained in the structure of our society and 40 years of corporate attacks on working families fighting for a decent life have left America without a strong middle-class, but the workers of the Fight for $15 are starting to turn the tide," said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which has supported the Fight for $15 since it launched in New York City in November of 2012. "This year, underpaid Americans will show elected leaders in every state in America that they are a voting bloc that cannot be ignored and will not be denied."
The convention marked the first time working people from across the economy and around the country who are fighting for $15 and union rights met as a group. Previously, fast-food workers held conventions in Chicago and Detroit, but the Richmond gathering marked a milestone in the expansion of the nearly four-year-old movement to sectors beyond fast-food.
"People who work for fast food corporations like McDonald's led the way, but the Fight for $15 is now for everyone," said Derick Smith, adjunct faculty at North Carolina A&T State University. "By joining together and passing the Richmond Resolution, we're saying loud and clear that we will hold our nation's elected leaders and deep-pocketed corporations accountable to cooks, cashiers, home care workers, and all 64 million of us paid less than $15."
In a hall draped with Fight for $15 banners from dozens and dozens of cities, underscoring how widespread the movement has become, fast-food cooks, home care and child care workers, airport workers, and others celebrated a spate of victories for the movement, including winning raises for nearly 20 million workers and leading the Democratic Party to adopt a $15 federal minimum wage as part of its platform.
At one point, workers from more than a dozen industries, including auto manufacturing, airports, wireless communications, nail salons, home care, child care, health care, security, janitorial, higher education, fast food and retail stood on stage together, underscoring their commitment to fight for $15 and union rights.
The Rev. William Barber II, an architect of the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina and founder of the social justice group Repairers of the Breach, kicked off day two of the convention Saturday by leading a rousing rendition of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around." He called more than 60 pastors onto the stage, in a prelude to a morning clergy summit hosted by Repairers of the Breach to mobilize faith leaders to partner with underpaid people in their congregations in the Fight for $15 to raise wage floors and overcome barriers to opportunity for working people.
Day two of the convention also included a moving tribute to Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, Philando Castile, Rekia Boyd and dozens of other black men and women killed by police in recent years. Hundreds of workers walked silently through the hall holding signs bearing the images and names of those killed, prompting thousands to call in unison: "Black Lives Matter."
The march--led by Barber and members of the Fight for $15 National Organizing Committee, ending at a statue of Robert E. Lee--brought the convention to a dynamic conclusion. Addressing thousands of workers in a keynote address in front of the statue, Barber stressed the linked fates of movements for living wages and civil rights.
"When African-Americans served in Southern legislatures for the first time, they built a movement with poor whites and re-wrote constitutions throughout the region to ban work without pay," Barber said. "Every step forward in our nation's history - every stride toward a more perfect union - has been the result of people coming together, pushed by a moral movement towards higher ground. It took us 400 years from slavery to the present to reach $7.25, but that was far too long, and we can't wait. We have to stand together and fight together now for $15 and union rights."
Also Saturday, a group of Richmond residents who work at a local McDonald's went on strike, demanding $15 and union rights. At an early morning protest in front of a downtown McDonald's, hundreds of cooks and cashiers chanted, "Put Some Respect on My Check," and "We Believe That We Will Win."
Working people's focus on the connections between racism and an economy increasingly out of balance is motivated in part by recent decisions made by predominantly white legislatures in Alabama and Missouri. These decisions steal away hard-fought raises for the predominantly black workforces in Birmingham, Kansas City and St. Louis, and led Alabama fast-food workers to enter a federal civil rights suit seeking to overturn the state's preemption of an increase approved by Birmingham's predominantly black city council.
"When white legislators in Missouri stole the minimum wage increase we fought so hard for in Kansas City, they took food right out of my children's mouths - and did the same to thousands of Black working families like ours," said Terrence Wise, a McDonalds worker from Kansas City, who is a member of the Fight for $15's National Organizing Committee. "But we won't let them steal our hope for a better life. I was proud to cast my vote for the Richmond Resolution to raise wages throughout cities and states across the South. Together we are standing up, fighting back, and we won't stop until we win $15 and union rights for everyone, everywhere."
The debate strikes this fall will build off of similar protests, from Milwaukee to Miami, last winter, which forced White House hopefuls to address the demands of working-class voters head on. On five occasions in the debates, candidates were pressed by moderators to respond to families in the Fight for $15 movement.
"Candidates who want our vote need to resolve the crisis of low pay in our country," said Dawn O'Neal, a child care worker from Atlanta, Georgia who is paid $8.50/hour despite 17 years on the job. "There are tens of millions of working parents around the country who are paid less than $15/hour, and politicians and elected officials have the power to change this. This year, we're joining together to say that, if you stand with us on the need for $15/hour, we'll stand with you."
Fast food workers are coming together all over the country to fight for $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. We work for corporations that are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees enough to support our families and to cover basic needs like food, health care, rent and transportation.
LATEST NEWS
Watchdog Urges FEC to Investigate Trump Campaign Over Scheme for Legal Fees
"By not disclosing the vendors that actually provided legal services, the Trump-affiliated committees effectively blocked the public from knowing which attorneys and firms are being paid—and how much."
Apr 24, 2024
A campaign finance watchdog on Wednesday filed a Federal Election Commission complaint accusing former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign, affiliated political groups, and an accounting firm of violating U.S. law in a scheme "seemingly designed to obscure the true recipients of a noteworthy portion of Trump's legal bills."
The Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center (CLC) said that "evidence appears to show an illegal arrangement between several Trump-affiliated committees and a compliance firm named Red Curve Solutions that is designed to obscure the identities of those providing legal services and how much they are being paid."
"Voters have a right to know how the presidential campaigns and other committees supporting presidential candidates spend their money."
CLC alleges that the Trump campaign, Trump's political action committee (PAC) Save America, and three affiliated organizations "violated federal reporting requirements based on a scheme in which the committees reportedly paid over $7.2 million—described as 'reimbursement for legal' costs or expenses"—to Red Curve.
The watchdog also said that Red Curve appears to be "making or facilitating illegal contributions that violate either federal contribution limits or the prohibition on corporate contributions."
According to CLC:
Red Curve is a domestic limited liability company that offers compliance and FEC reporting services but does not appear to offer any legal services. It is managed by Bradley Crate, who also serves as the treasurer for each of the five Trump-affiliated committees concerned in this complaint, as well as over 200 other federal committees.
According to filings with the FEC, Red Curve appears to have been fronting legal costs for Trump since at least December 2022, with Trump-affiliated committees repaying the company later. This arrangement appears to violate FEC rules that require campaigns to disclose not only the entity being reimbursed (here, Red Curve) but also the underlying vendor. By not disclosing the vendors that actually provided legal services, the Trump-affiliated committees effectively blocked the public from knowing which attorneys and firms are being paid—and how much they are being paid—through this arrangement.
"Voters have a right to know how the presidential campaigns and other committees supporting presidential candidates spend their money," CLC senior director of campaign finance Erin Chlopak said in a statement. "When campaigns and committees obscure that information from the public, not only do they make it difficult to determine if the law has been violated, but they deny voters the ability to make an informed choice when casting a ballot."
"The steps taken by the Trump campaign, its affiliated committees, and Red Curve Solutions concealed information about how campaign funds were used to pay former President Trump's legal expenditures, including the amounts and ultimate recipients of these expenditures—and the FEC must investigate immediately," Chlopak added.
Trump—who is the presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee—faces 91 federal and state felony charges related to his role in the January 6 insurrection and his organization's business practices. He is currently on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The twice-impeached former president has been open about his use of campaign donations to pay his legal costs.
The new CLC filing comes a day after the watchdog filed separate FEC complaints urging investigations into a pair of Trump-affiliated "scam PACs," which "pretend to fundraise for major candidates or issues while secretly diverting almost all of their donors' money back into fundraising or the fraudsters' own pockets."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'One Step Closer': Arizona House Votes to Repeal 1864 Abortion Ban
"With a total ban still set to take effect June 8, the Arizona Abortion Access Act is needed now more than ever," one state campaigner said of a November ballot measure.
Apr 24, 2024
Three Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday joined with Democrats to advance legislation that would repeal an 1864 ban on abortion—a development rights advocates welcomed while stressing that the fight is far from over.
The 32-28 vote on House Bill 2677—with GOP Reps. Tim Dunn (25), Matt Gress (4), and Justin Wilmeth (2) voting in favor—was the third attempt in as many weeks to pass repeal legislation since the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the ban.
"The state Senate could vote on the repeal as early as next Wednesday, after the bill comes on the floor for a 'third reading,' as is required under chamber rules," according toNBC News. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on Wednesday toldThe Washington Post that "I am hopeful the Senate does the right thing and sends it to my desk so I can sign it."
Applauding the House passage of H.B. 2677, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona president and CEO Angela Florez said that "today, Arizona is one step closer to repealing the state's Civil War-era total abortion ban. While the repeal still must pass the Senate, this is a major win for reproductive freedom."
"We must celebrate today's vote in support of abortion rights and harness our enthusiasm to spread the word and urge lawmakers in the Senate to support this necessary repeal bill," she continued. "Despite this step forward, Arizonans cannot stop fighting."
Florez noted that "even with the repeal of the Civil War-era ban, the state will still have a ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy that denies people access to critical care. And lawmakers continue to attack Arizonans' ability to access reproductive healthcare. Our right to control our bodies and lives is hanging on by a thread."
"Thankfully, voters will have the opportunity to take back control if the Arizona Abortion Access Act is on the ballot this November," she added. "Abortion bans are out-of-step with the will of Arizonans and will force pregnant people to leave their communities for essential healthcare. Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona will continue fighting to ensure everyone has the right to make decisions about their health and futures."
The Arizona Abortion Access Act is a proposed state constitutional amendment that would prevent many limits on abortions before fetal viability and safeguard access to care after viability to protect the life or physical or mental health of the patient.
The coalition supporting the amendment, Arizona for Abortion Access, highlighted on social media that the House-approved bill "did not include the emergency clause required to stop the 1864 ban from taking effect on June 8," meaning H.B. 2677 wouldn't apply until 90 days after the end of the legislative session.
Coalition campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said that "with a total ban still set to take effect June 8, the Arizona Abortion Access Act is needed now more than ever. We remain committed to taking these decisions out of the hands of extremist politicians."
Arizona is one of multiple states where rights advocates are promoting abortion rights ballot measures this cycle. Reproductive freedom is also dominating political races at all levels, including the presidential contest. Democratic President Joe Biden is set to face former Republican President Donald Trump in November.
"Donald Trump is responsible for Arizona's abortion ban. Women in the state are still living under a ban with no exceptions for rape or incest and have been stripped of the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions," said Julie Chávez Rodriguez, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' reelection campaign manager.
While the presumptive GOP nominee has tried to distance himself from the Arizona Supreme Court's reinstatement of a 160-year-old abortion ban, he has also campaigned on his three appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped reverse Roe v. Wade.
"Trump brags that he is 'proudly' the person responsible for these bans and if he retakes power, the chaos and cruelty he has created will only get worse in all 50 states," Chávez Rodriguez said. "President Biden and Vice President Harris are the only candidates who will stop him."
Keep ReadingShow Less
US Dodges Growing Calls for Probe of Mass Graves at Gaza Hospitals
"Somehow I don't think the U.S. State Department would defer to Russia as a credible source to investigate itself if a mass grave were discovered in Ukrainian territory it had occupied," said one legal expert.
Apr 24, 2024
While continuing to give Israel billions of dollars in support to wage war on the Gaza Strip, the Biden administration this week has declined to join the growing global demands for an international probe into mass graves discovered at hospitals in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Two journalists on Tuesday questioned Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, about the administration's response to the hundreds of bodies found at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis as well as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk's call for an independent investigation.
"Would you support such an independent investigation?" Said Arikat asked during a press briefing. Patel responded, "Right now, Said, we are asking for more information... That is squarely where we are leaving the conversation."
Patel added that "I don't have any details to match, confirm, or offer as it relates to that. We're aware of those reports, and we have asked the government of Israel for additional clarity and information. And that's where I'm at."
When Said asked a follow-up about potential U.S. support for a probe, Patel reiterated that the administration is awaiting information from the Israeli government.
Later, Niall Stanage asked Patel to explain U.S. "resistance" to supporting a probe, the spokesperson insisted that "it's not about resistance to this particular situation, it is me not wanting to speak in detail about something which Said posed as a hypothetical question when, from the United States' perspective, I don't have any additional information on this aside from the public reporting."
After Patel again stressed that the administration has asked Israel for more information, Stanage inquired, "And do you believe the government of Israel is a credible source in enlightening you?"
The spokesperson interrupted Stanage to say, "We do."
While supporting the six-month Israeli assault on Gaza that the International Court of Justice has found to be plausibly genocidal, the Biden administration is also arming Ukrainians' resistance to a Russian invasion. Brian Finucane, a senior adviser for the Crisis Group's U.S. program and a former legal adviser at the State Department, pointed to the latter.
"Somehow I don't think the U.S. State Department would defer to Russia as a credible source to investigate itself if a mass grave were discovered in Ukrainian territory it had occupied," Finucane said on social media in response to Stanage's questioning.
Meanwhile, European Union spokesperson Peter Stano made clear Tuesday that the E.U. supports an independent probe.
"This is something that forces us to call for an independent investigation of all the suspicions and all the circumstances, because indeed it creates the impression that there might have been violations of international human rights committed," Stano said. "That's why it's important to have independent investigation and to ensure accountability."
Human rights groups around the world joined the call for an independent investigation on Wednesday, as the official death toll in Gaza hit 34,262 with 77,229 people injured and thousands more missing and presumed dead beneath the rubble.
In an Arabic statement translated by Al Jazeera, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said that the number of bodies found in the mass graves is "alarming, and requires urgent international action, including the formation of an independent international investigation committee."
The group added that some of those killed were subjected to "premeditated murder as well as arbitrary and extrajudicial executions while they were detained and handcuffed."
Amnesty International senior director of research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns Erika Guevara Rosas said in a statement that "the harrowing discovery of these mass graves underscores the urgency of ensuring immediate access for human rights investigators, including forensic experts, to the occupied Gaza Strip to ensure that evidence is preserved and to carry out independent and transparent investigations with the aim of guaranteeing accountability for any violations of international law."
"Lack of access for human rights investigators to Gaza has hampered effective investigations into the full scale of the human rights violations and crimes under international law committed over the past six months, allowing for the documentation of just a tiny fraction of these abuses," she noted. "Without proper investigations to determine how these deaths took place or what violations may have been committed, we may never find out the truth of the horrors behind these mass graves."
Guevara Rosas continued:
Mass grave sites are potential crime scenes offering vital and time-sensitive forensic evidence; they must be protected until professional forensic experts with the necessary skills and resources can safely carry out adequate exhumations and accurate identification of remains.
The absence of forensic experts and the decimation of Gaza's medical sector as a result of the war and Israel's cruel blockade, along with the lack of availability of the necessary resources for the identification of bodies such as DNA testing, are huge obstacles to the identifications of remains. This denies those killed the opportunity to have a dignified burial and deprives families with relatives missing or forcibly disappeared the right to know and to justice—leaving them in a limbo of uncertainty and anguish.
Noting that the International Court of Justice directed Israel to preserve evidence in its initial genocide case order, Guevara Rosas said that "amid a total vacuum of accountability and mounting evidence of war crimes in Gaza, Israeli authorities must ensure they comply with the ICJ ruling by granting immediate access to independent human rights investigators and ensuring that all evidence of violations is preserved."
"Third states must pressure Israel to comply with the ICJ orders by allowing the immediate entry into the Gaza Strip of independent human rights investigators and forensic experts, including the U.N.-appointed Commission of Inquiry and investigators of the International Criminal Court," she added. "There can be no truth and justice without proper, transparent independent investigations into these deaths."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular