Oct 24, 2013 Mobilization

ON THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MINIMUM WAGE:
A Call to Make Thurs., OCTOBER 24th
“WORKERS DEMAND A RAISE DAY”
$15 AN HOUR BECAUSE “WE CAN’T SURVIVE ON $7.25”

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We call on everyone who believes in justice to support this call to make the 75th anniversary of the first minimum wage in the U.S., “WORKERS DEMAND A RAISE DAY”.
The first national minimum wage of 25 cents an hour went into effect on Oct. 24, 1938.  Establishing a minimum wage was part of the Fair Labor Standards Act that Congress approved in the summer of that year.
Unfairly paid workers who work at fast food restaurants and giant chain stores like Walmart are a big part of the 99% and they are rising up and demanding a $15 an hour living wage.  All of us need to support these brave workers and we also need to join them. 
Whether you work at one of the fast food chain stores, a big restaurant, one of the chain box stores, or in an office building, hotel, factory, clothing store or a hospital, there is a good chance that you are being paid somewhere between $7.25 (the current national minimum wage) and $10 dollars an hour. As the fast food workers like to say “you can’t survive on $7.25”.  Many young people, especially youth of color stand a better chance of ending up in prison before finding a job.
As the 1% gets richer every day many workers, especially immigrant workers, are paid even less than the minimum wage, and are forced to live and work under the threat of constant harassment and fear. In truth, even a minimum wage of $15 dollars an hour is not enough to pay your bills. It is only a big step in the right direction. On top of being unfairly paid, many workers who need full-time jobs are being forced to work part time or on a temporary basis. Most unfairly paid workers have little or no benefits. And more and more workers can’t even find any job, especially a good paying one.
Help turn the 75th anniversary of the first minimum wage into an opportunity to say through rallies, marches and protests around the country that workers’ needs should come before greed and profits.
The idea of making the 75th anniversary of the minimum wage a day for everyone to demand a raise for unfairly paid workers was proposed and approved at a Baltimore Workers Assembly meeting on Sept 1. The proposal was inspired by the many unfairly paid workers who testified at the Baltimore Workers Assembly.

  • SUPPORT WORKERS WHO ARE FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS!
  • NO WORKER IS ALONE IF WE ALL STICK TOGETHER – GET ORGANIZED!
  • FULL-TIME JOBS FOR ALL WHO WANT AND NEED THEM!
  • JOBS & WORKERS RIGHTS, NOT JAILS AND MASS INCARCERATION
  • DEFEND IMMIGRANT WORKERS!  STOP DEPORTATIONS!
  • STOP THE ATTACK ON UNIONS!
  • DON’T WAGE WARS — RAISE WORKERS’ WAGES!
  • STOP THE CUTBACKS — STOP EVICTIONS & CLOSING HOSPITALS, SCHOOLS AND POST OFFICES!
    AN INJURY TO ONE IS AN INJURY TO ALL!

 
For more information contact: Workers Assembly – 2011 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218
Phone: 410-218-4835 www.PeoplesPowerAssemblies.org or respond to this email.
 

At the Sept 1 Workers Assembly,
Fred Mason, President of the Maryland State and D.C. AFL-CIO Labor Council explained, that if the minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would be $15.23 an hour. 
Countless other young workers testified to the horrible impact of low wages.  Airport worker Yaseen Abdul-Malik, a member of UNITE/HERE Local 7, described his terrible working conditions and low pay at the BWI airport.  He explained, “I have to work two jobs to pay my bills that have damaged my leg.  I cannot afford the surgery to correct the damage and as a result I might lose my leg.”
This was just one of the many stories that motivated the assembly to vote to make Oct. 24th a national day of protest to demand “Raise workers wages!”