The Fight for $15 and a Union
The Fight for $15 began in 2012 when two hundred fast-food workers walked off the job to demand $15/hr and union rights in New York City.
Today, we’re a global movement in over 300 cities on six continents.
We are fast-food workers, home health aides, child care teachers, airport workers, adjunct professors, retail employees – and underpaid workers everywhere.
McDonald’s and low-wage employers everywhere are making billions of dollars in profit and pushing off costs onto taxpayers, while leaving people like us – the people who do the real work – struggling to survive.
We can’t feed our families, pay our bills, or even keep a roof over our heads on minimum wage pay.
When we first took the streets, the skeptics called us dreamers. They said a $15 wage was “unwinnable.”
We didn’t listen. We organized and we fought for what we knew was right.
We didn’t win these increases because we elected supportive politicians to office. We won because we made them support us. That's the power of direct action, of taking to the streets, of organizing.
We’ve already won raises for 22 million people across the country – including 10 million who are on their way to $15/hr – all because workers came together and acted like a union.
And we will keep on fighting, no matter the challenge. We won’t back down.