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Today, Biden will sign an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal workers and contractors to $15/hour.
You have a "failed" union campaign -- and its incredible organizer to thank. 1/21
You have a "failed" union campaign -- and its incredible organizer to thank. 1/21
The story starts at Seattle-Tacoma's International airport, where employers were using hardball tactics to stop an organizing campaign. Airline jobs used to be unionized but they were contracted out. Could raising the minimum wage at an airport work? https://www.knkx.org/post/seiu-leader-describes-how-seatac-helped-ignite-minimum-wage-movement 2/21
Instead, @SEIU organizer and strategist @DavidMRolf took the fight for a $15 minimum wage to the ballot in the small town of SeaTac, where the airport is located.
It won by just 77 votes!
3/21
It won by just 77 votes!
3/21
Little SeaTac Washington became the first city in the US with a minimum wage of $15.
Then ballot and political campaigns in
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
NYC
Then New York, California, Massachusetts.
See this feature by @greenhousenyt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/09/fight-for-15-meet-the-enfant-terrible-behind-the-battle-for-us-minimum-wage 4/21
Then ballot and political campaigns in
Seattle
San Francisco
Los Angeles
NYC
Then New York, California, Massachusetts.
See this feature by @greenhousenyt
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/09/fight-for-15-meet-the-enfant-terrible-behind-the-battle-for-us-minimum-wage 4/21
Campaigns take money and time. @SEIU bet on this one and it was risky. Why?
5/21
5/21
Without organizing campaigns, unions cannot grow. But unions need members to support organizing campaigns. Would a national campaign to raise the minimum wage, that did not necessarily lead to more dues paying members, work? Bankrupt the union? A real debate at the time.
6/21
6/21
Labor at a "crossroads" from my friend @HaroldMeyerson at the time.
"Over the past 15 years, no American unionist has organized as many workers, or won them raises as substantial, as Rolf."
https://prospect.org/economy/labor-crossroads-seeds-new-movement/
7/21
"Over the past 15 years, no American unionist has organized as many workers, or won them raises as substantial, as Rolf."
https://prospect.org/economy/labor-crossroads-seeds-new-movement/
7/21
But here's the thing: do you gain those raises through the US's gutted national labor laws or other creative kinds of organizing?
We tried to take this question on with our book Surviving the New Economy. https://www.routledge.com/Surviving-the-New-Economy/Amman-Carpenter-Neff/p/book/9781594512506
8/21
We tried to take this question on with our book Surviving the New Economy. https://www.routledge.com/Surviving-the-New-Economy/Amman-Carpenter-Neff/p/book/9781594512506
8/21
Rolf's answer was clear: "We believe it’s the mission of the labor movement to fight for all workers, not just those who are lucky enough to have a union,” Rolf said.
9/21
9/21
That also means the old-fashioned collective bargaining cannot be the only model for getting gains for workers.
This made Rolf "a pariah to some in labor." (not tagging the labor leader who said this part out loud).
10/21
This made Rolf "a pariah to some in labor." (not tagging the labor leader who said this part out loud).
10/21
The Fight for $15 @fightfor15 worked on low-wage service and retail work: fast food, home health care and childcare jobs, even adjunct university work. But these weren't traditional collective bargaining campaigns.
11/21
11/21
Full disclosure moment: former @SEIU925 organizing committee here.
http://www.seiu925.org/university-of-washington/
12/21
http://www.seiu925.org/university-of-washington/
12/21
It seemed crazy, really. In 2013, while Republicans and some Democrats in Congress during the Obama administration were refusing to talk about a $10 minimum wage, a national campaign said dream EVEN bigger. 13/21 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_Wage_Fairness_Act
It also seems crazy in retrospect: wean big unions off the model of getting new members by organizing workplaces to negotiate with bosses under increasingly weaker labor laws. 14/21
But here we are: US federal workers and contractors are getting a big bump in their minimum wage. How big? 15/21
Did anybody notice? It's more than DOUBLE.
Biden's action today is more than double the current federal minimum wage. 16/21
Biden's action today is more than double the current federal minimum wage. 16/21
To be fair this increase by executive order is only for a small fraction of the US workforce. But it matters. Why? 17/21
This increase today matters because it helps us dream bigger for better minimum wage work. And it helps Federal workers and contractors negotiate for better wages. 18/21
It also helps racial justice inequalities. In the words of a recent op-ed: To reduce racial inequality, raise the minimum wage. 19/21 https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/25/opinion/minimum-wage-race-protests.html
When the minimum wage was raised in 1966 it helped wipe out 20% of the wage gap between Blacks and Whites over a 14 year period.
The minimum wage has not been raised in 12 years. What gap would be wiped out between Black and White wage if the federal minimum wage was $15?
20/
The minimum wage has not been raised in 12 years. What gap would be wiped out between Black and White wage if the federal minimum wage was $15?
20/
If there is a lesson here: when the other side plays hardball, go big.
And there is power in a union. Especially in a creative one.
Congratulations @fightfor15 and @seiu https://fightfor15.org/
fin.
And there is power in a union. Especially in a creative one.
Congratulations @fightfor15 and @seiu https://fightfor15.org/
fin.
