Being a low-wage, service worker kind of town, Tucson has been in the Fight for $15 since the beginning in 2013. The Fight for $15 movement is spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU has been organizing fast food workers in the US and wants to raise the minimum wage to $15, since the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour is not a living wage.
Recently, SEIU also began organizing adjunct faculty to fight for $15,000/class. Currently, some adjunct faculty make only $2000-3000/class; again, even for adjuncts who teach multiple classes, this is not a living wage.
On April 15, 2015, nationwide, there will be Fight for $15 rallies in 200 cities– including here in Tucson and Phoenix. This is the fourth Fight for $15 rally in Tucson.
Below are the specifics for the Tucson and Phoenix events from the organizers and a video of the Burger King walkout in September 2014.
WEDNESDAY APRIL 15
11 AM
ASSEMBLE at the intersection of Speedway and Campbell. We are hoping to occupy all four corners. (Park your car in the Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, on Campbell, North of Speedway.)
MARCH west on the North Side of Speedway approximately one block to the McDonalds on that side of the street.
RALLY with speakers, striking Fast Food Workers, and perhaps a song or two. Following this rally, we will
PROCEED another block to the underpass under Speedway leading to the University of Arizona Campus.
REASSEMBLE on the UofA Mall.
MARCH West along the Mall to Old Main.
RALLY will take place at 12 noon. We will be joining Non Tenured Staff from both the UA and Pima Community Colleges who are the low wage workers who teach a majority of classes at our educational institutions with unlivable wages and no benefits.
We will have signs and Banners. But please feel free to bring your own.
Following the rally on the UA Mall, some Tucson protesters will board a bus for Tempe where they will rally with ASU adjuncts and fast food workers. Buses and box lunches will be provided for Tucsonans who want to make the trip north. E-mail organizers at Redcataz05@yahoo.com if you want a seat on the bus north.
Content warning regarding the second video: some of the language is as bad as fast food workers’ pay.
It is obvious that you don’t pay anyone a wage out of your pocket. That is why, like most liberals, you enjoy unbridled generosity with other people’s money.
If you can’t afford to pay a living wage, your business model isn’t working, and it’s not the employees’ fault.
In other words, if you can’t afford to pay your employees $15 an hour, you have no right to own and operate the business. That attitude would certainly help the employees. No job at all is obviously better than being paid less than $15 an hour.
As I said, it is not you that has to figure out to make the payroll, and it is not you that will lose the job. But you will have a warm and comfy feeling from doing the right thing.