Thousands of Underpaid Workers to Flood State Capitols Across the Nation, Challenge Elected Officials to Support $15/HR, Union Rights, Racial Justice

Workers fighting for $15 an hour and union rights will protest alongside faith and community leaders at 28 state capitols across the country on Sept. 12, calling on politicians to support a moral policy agenda that includes living wages, union rights, and racial justice, among other issues. The protests are part of a "Higher Ground Moral Day of Action" spearheaded by the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, an architect of the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina and founder of the social justice group Repairers of the Breach.

At each rally, workers, clergy, and community leaders will read and deliver a Moral Declaration signed by more than 10,000 people of faith and 2,500 faith leaders calling on elected officials and candidates for office to embrace morally just policies like a $15/hour wage and health care for all, and to stand against racism, sexism, discrimination and attacks on voting rights.

The national day of action will be dedicated to former Missouri McDonald's worker Myrna De Los Santos, who died on Aug. 27 at the age of 49 due to complications from diabetes--a condition that went untreated because her $8 per hour wage wouldn't cover basic health care. Myrna would have received health care through Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, but Republican state lawmakers blocked a proposed Medicaid expansion in 2013. Last year, the legislature also blockedthe $13 minimum wage increase Myrna and other Kansas City workers fought for and won with a state preemption bill.

Underpaid workers across the country voted to take part in the Higher Ground Moral Day of Action at the first-ever Fight for $15 National Convention in August.

WHO: Working people in the Fight for $15; faith leaders from diverse traditions; community leaders.

WHAT: Rallies, vigils, and revivals at state capitols calling on politicians to support a moral policy agenda that includes higher wages, union rights, a stronger safety net and more.

WHEN: 11 am ET, September 12, 2016

WHERE: State capitols participating in the Moral High Ground Day of Action include: Montgomery, AL, Little Rock, AR, Sacramento, CA, Denver, CO, Hartford, CT, Washington, DC, Tallahassee, FL, Atlanta, GA, Springfield, IL, Indianapolis, IN, Frankfort, KY, Baton Rouge, LA, Boston, MA, Saint Paul, MN, Jackson, MS, Jefferson City, MO, Concord, NH, Santa Fe, NM, Raleigh, NC, Carson City, NV, Albany, NY, Columbus, OH, Harrisburg, PA, Columbia, SC, Nashville, TN, Austin, TX, Richmond, VA, and Madison, WI.