SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Why I Went to Detroit: Reflections on the Fight for $15 Movement
Jun 13, 2015
I've been on strike four times. Not something many people would expect from a worker living in North Carolina, but the Fight for $15 is not an ordinary movement.
For over two years now, fast food workers like myself all over the country, and even in other parts of the world, have been fighting for a decent wage of $15 an hour and union rights. $15 an hour isn't going to make any of us rich, it's just enough so that mothers like me don't have to live in poverty.
This past weekend we marked a milestone: our second annual Fast Food Worker Convention, and our biggest one to date.
We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you - no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers. This media model only works if enough readers pitch in. We have millions of readers every month and, it seems, too many take our survival for granted. It isn't. Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is going very slow - only 503 readers have contributed a total of $19,000 so far. We must raise $31,000 more before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
|
Over 1,200 fast food workers from all over the nation, gathered together in Detroit. All of us committed to doing "whatever it takes" to win $15 an hour and union rights, and it's clear that we take this movement seriously. Some workers rode in buses for 10, 12, 15 hours just to be in that room and talk about how to grow our movement.
As part of the National Organizing Committee workers like me from different cities helped facilitate the convention. It was the first time in my life speaking on a stage and addressing such a large group.
The main lessons coming out of the convention were clear: We are winning and we must keep up the fight.
Just in my time with the movement, I've seen San Francisco and Los Angeles win $15 an hour, I've seen New York on the verge of $15, even places like St. Louis are now considering $15 an hour, but that doesn't even include all the workers I've seen in North Carolina and other parts of the South win raises directly after going on strike.
When Hillary Clinton called in to the convention it really hit me just how powerful the Fight for $15 has become.
Who would have ever thought that a group of fast food workers would be able to get to the point where some of the most powerful leaders in the world want to follow our lead in demanding living wages, union rights, and dignity for all workers?
I would never have the confidence to speak out the way I do today if it hadn't been for this movement. This fight is so much bigger than $15 an hour. In ways I feel like I have already won a lot. Knowing that I am not alone, that there are thousands of workers struggling just like me, many I've been able to build a strong and loving community with, gives me the strength to keep fighting.
This battle is tough, but ultimately I know one day we will make it.
I believe that we will win.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
© 2023 Institute for Southern Studies
Anna Swauger
Anna Swauger works at Sonic in Greensboro, North Carolina and is a leader in the Fight for $15 movement.
I've been on strike four times. Not something many people would expect from a worker living in North Carolina, but the Fight for $15 is not an ordinary movement.
For over two years now, fast food workers like myself all over the country, and even in other parts of the world, have been fighting for a decent wage of $15 an hour and union rights. $15 an hour isn't going to make any of us rich, it's just enough so that mothers like me don't have to live in poverty.
This past weekend we marked a milestone: our second annual Fast Food Worker Convention, and our biggest one to date.
We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you - no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers. This media model only works if enough readers pitch in. We have millions of readers every month and, it seems, too many take our survival for granted. It isn't. Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is going very slow - only 503 readers have contributed a total of $19,000 so far. We must raise $31,000 more before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
|
Over 1,200 fast food workers from all over the nation, gathered together in Detroit. All of us committed to doing "whatever it takes" to win $15 an hour and union rights, and it's clear that we take this movement seriously. Some workers rode in buses for 10, 12, 15 hours just to be in that room and talk about how to grow our movement.
As part of the National Organizing Committee workers like me from different cities helped facilitate the convention. It was the first time in my life speaking on a stage and addressing such a large group.
The main lessons coming out of the convention were clear: We are winning and we must keep up the fight.
Just in my time with the movement, I've seen San Francisco and Los Angeles win $15 an hour, I've seen New York on the verge of $15, even places like St. Louis are now considering $15 an hour, but that doesn't even include all the workers I've seen in North Carolina and other parts of the South win raises directly after going on strike.
When Hillary Clinton called in to the convention it really hit me just how powerful the Fight for $15 has become.
Who would have ever thought that a group of fast food workers would be able to get to the point where some of the most powerful leaders in the world want to follow our lead in demanding living wages, union rights, and dignity for all workers?
I would never have the confidence to speak out the way I do today if it hadn't been for this movement. This fight is so much bigger than $15 an hour. In ways I feel like I have already won a lot. Knowing that I am not alone, that there are thousands of workers struggling just like me, many I've been able to build a strong and loving community with, gives me the strength to keep fighting.
This battle is tough, but ultimately I know one day we will make it.
I believe that we will win.
Anna Swauger
Anna Swauger works at Sonic in Greensboro, North Carolina and is a leader in the Fight for $15 movement.
I've been on strike four times. Not something many people would expect from a worker living in North Carolina, but the Fight for $15 is not an ordinary movement.
For over two years now, fast food workers like myself all over the country, and even in other parts of the world, have been fighting for a decent wage of $15 an hour and union rights. $15 an hour isn't going to make any of us rich, it's just enough so that mothers like me don't have to live in poverty.
This past weekend we marked a milestone: our second annual Fast Food Worker Convention, and our biggest one to date.
We Interrupt This Article with an Urgent Message! Common Dreams is a not-for-profit news service. All of our content is free to you - no subscriptions; no ads. We are funded by donations from our readers. This media model only works if enough readers pitch in. We have millions of readers every month and, it seems, too many take our survival for granted. It isn't. Our critical Mid-Year fundraiser is going very slow - only 503 readers have contributed a total of $19,000 so far. We must raise $31,000 more before we can end this fundraising campaign and get back to focusing on what we do best.
|
Over 1,200 fast food workers from all over the nation, gathered together in Detroit. All of us committed to doing "whatever it takes" to win $15 an hour and union rights, and it's clear that we take this movement seriously. Some workers rode in buses for 10, 12, 15 hours just to be in that room and talk about how to grow our movement.
As part of the National Organizing Committee workers like me from different cities helped facilitate the convention. It was the first time in my life speaking on a stage and addressing such a large group.
The main lessons coming out of the convention were clear: We are winning and we must keep up the fight.
Just in my time with the movement, I've seen San Francisco and Los Angeles win $15 an hour, I've seen New York on the verge of $15, even places like St. Louis are now considering $15 an hour, but that doesn't even include all the workers I've seen in North Carolina and other parts of the South win raises directly after going on strike.
When Hillary Clinton called in to the convention it really hit me just how powerful the Fight for $15 has become.
Who would have ever thought that a group of fast food workers would be able to get to the point where some of the most powerful leaders in the world want to follow our lead in demanding living wages, union rights, and dignity for all workers?
I would never have the confidence to speak out the way I do today if it hadn't been for this movement. This fight is so much bigger than $15 an hour. In ways I feel like I have already won a lot. Knowing that I am not alone, that there are thousands of workers struggling just like me, many I've been able to build a strong and loving community with, gives me the strength to keep fighting.
This battle is tough, but ultimately I know one day we will make it.
I believe that we will win.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.