August, 15 2016, 11:30am EDT
At First-Ever Fight for $15 Convention, Workers Adopt 'Richmond Resolution,' Vow to Champion $15, Union Rights Through 2016 Election Season and Beyond
64 Million Paid Less than $15 Pledge Massive Protests for Higher Pay at Presidential, VP Debates this Fall
Richmond, Va.
Thousands of underpaid Americans from around the country and across the economy took to the streets of Richmond Saturday, bringing to an emphatic conclusion a two-day convention at which working families fighting for $15 and union rights promised to hold elected officials accountable on Election Day and every day thereafter to build an economy that works for everyone.
The workers held their convention in Richmond - the former capital of the old Confederacy - to highlight the enduring effects of racist policies that are holding back low-paid working families of color today. Four hundred years of slavery and segregation, combined with 40 years of anti-union policies, have had a disastrous effect on tens of millions of working Americans.
"We abolished slavery more than 150 years ago, but its legacy is still felt in economic policies and working conditions that hold back Black and Latino working people across America," said Sepia Coleman, a home care worker from Memphis, Tennessee. "When you add in decades of attacks on workers who organized unions, you get a devastating result that has left tens of millions of us unable to support our families. We're all in the same boat now, so we have no choice but to row together and row forcefully."
Before they took off on their march, people who work in sectors across America's economy - spanning fast-food, home care, child care, higher education, retail, manufacturing, and agriculture - unanimously passed the "Richmond Resolution," (see attached for text) vowing to intensify their fight for $15/hour and union rights with massive protests to hit the presidential and vice presidential debates this fall.
Before the vote, a group of fast-food cooks and cashiers from Memphis led the crowd in a chant: "Eyes on '16, we want $15."
Working-class voters also resolved to push cities and states throughout the old Confederacy to raise wages, in defiance of powerful interests that have sought to block higher pay across the South. And the Fight for $15 committed to link arms with faith and civil rights leaders nationwide in a wave of rallies at state capitols on Sept. 12 to call on lawmakers from state senators to governors to advance moral policies like a living wage, voting rights and criminal justice reform.
"Centuries of racism ingrained in the structure of our society and 40 years of corporate attacks on working families fighting for a decent life have left America without a strong middle-class, but the workers of the Fight for $15 are starting to turn the tide," said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which has supported the Fight for $15 since it launched in New York City in November of 2012. "This year, underpaid Americans will show elected leaders in every state in America that they are a voting bloc that cannot be ignored and will not be denied."
The convention marked the first time working people from across the economy and around the country who are fighting for $15 and union rights met as a group. Previously, fast-food workers held conventions in Chicago and Detroit, but the Richmond gathering marked a milestone in the expansion of the nearly four-year-old movement to sectors beyond fast-food.
"People who work for fast food corporations like McDonald's led the way, but the Fight for $15 is now for everyone," said Derick Smith, adjunct faculty at North Carolina A&T State University. "By joining together and passing the Richmond Resolution, we're saying loud and clear that we will hold our nation's elected leaders and deep-pocketed corporations accountable to cooks, cashiers, home care workers, and all 64 million of us paid less than $15."
In a hall draped with Fight for $15 banners from dozens and dozens of cities, underscoring how widespread the movement has become, fast-food cooks, home care and child care workers, airport workers, and others celebrated a spate of victories for the movement, including winning raises for nearly 20 million workers and leading the Democratic Party to adopt a $15 federal minimum wage as part of its platform.
At one point, workers from more than a dozen industries, including auto manufacturing, airports, wireless communications, nail salons, home care, child care, health care, security, janitorial, higher education, fast food and retail stood on stage together, underscoring their commitment to fight for $15 and union rights.
The Rev. William Barber II, an architect of the Moral Mondays movement in North Carolina and founder of the social justice group Repairers of the Breach, kicked off day two of the convention Saturday by leading a rousing rendition of "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around." He called more than 60 pastors onto the stage, in a prelude to a morning clergy summit hosted by Repairers of the Breach to mobilize faith leaders to partner with underpaid people in their congregations in the Fight for $15 to raise wage floors and overcome barriers to opportunity for working people.
Day two of the convention also included a moving tribute to Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, Philando Castile, Rekia Boyd and dozens of other black men and women killed by police in recent years. Hundreds of workers walked silently through the hall holding signs bearing the images and names of those killed, prompting thousands to call in unison: "Black Lives Matter."
The march--led by Barber and members of the Fight for $15 National Organizing Committee, ending at a statue of Robert E. Lee--brought the convention to a dynamic conclusion. Addressing thousands of workers in a keynote address in front of the statue, Barber stressed the linked fates of movements for living wages and civil rights.
"When African-Americans served in Southern legislatures for the first time, they built a movement with poor whites and re-wrote constitutions throughout the region to ban work without pay," Barber said. "Every step forward in our nation's history - every stride toward a more perfect union - has been the result of people coming together, pushed by a moral movement towards higher ground. It took us 400 years from slavery to the present to reach $7.25, but that was far too long, and we can't wait. We have to stand together and fight together now for $15 and union rights."
Also Saturday, a group of Richmond residents who work at a local McDonald's went on strike, demanding $15 and union rights. At an early morning protest in front of a downtown McDonald's, hundreds of cooks and cashiers chanted, "Put Some Respect on My Check," and "We Believe That We Will Win."
Working people's focus on the connections between racism and an economy increasingly out of balance is motivated in part by recent decisions made by predominantly white legislatures in Alabama and Missouri. These decisions steal away hard-fought raises for the predominantly black workforces in Birmingham, Kansas City and St. Louis, and led Alabama fast-food workers to enter a federal civil rights suit seeking to overturn the state's preemption of an increase approved by Birmingham's predominantly black city council.
"When white legislators in Missouri stole the minimum wage increase we fought so hard for in Kansas City, they took food right out of my children's mouths - and did the same to thousands of Black working families like ours," said Terrence Wise, a McDonalds worker from Kansas City, who is a member of the Fight for $15's National Organizing Committee. "But we won't let them steal our hope for a better life. I was proud to cast my vote for the Richmond Resolution to raise wages throughout cities and states across the South. Together we are standing up, fighting back, and we won't stop until we win $15 and union rights for everyone, everywhere."
The debate strikes this fall will build off of similar protests, from Milwaukee to Miami, last winter, which forced White House hopefuls to address the demands of working-class voters head on. On five occasions in the debates, candidates were pressed by moderators to respond to families in the Fight for $15 movement.
"Candidates who want our vote need to resolve the crisis of low pay in our country," said Dawn O'Neal, a child care worker from Atlanta, Georgia who is paid $8.50/hour despite 17 years on the job. "There are tens of millions of working parents around the country who are paid less than $15/hour, and politicians and elected officials have the power to change this. This year, we're joining together to say that, if you stand with us on the need for $15/hour, we'll stand with you."
Fast food workers are coming together all over the country to fight for $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. We work for corporations that are making tremendous profits, but do not pay employees enough to support our families and to cover basic needs like food, health care, rent and transportation.
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Sanders Pushes Harris to Pursue Agenda That 'Speaks to the Needs of the Working Class'
"The issue that concerns me is that for too long, Democrats have kind of turned their backs on the pain that millions of working-class people," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
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As labor unions, advocacy groups, and progressive lawmakers rallied around Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders held off on formally endorsing her for the 2024 Democratic nomination, saying he wants to ensure she will pursue an ambitious agenda that prioritizes the needs of the country's working class.
In an appearance on CBS News, Sanders (I-Vt.) said he believes Harris will defeat Republican nominee Donald Trump in November if she is "prepared to campaign around an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country."
"The issue that concerns me is that for too long, Democrats have kind of turned their backs on the pain that millions of working-class people, people who are elderly, children, lower-income people are experiencing," Sanders told CBS' Robert Costa, who reported late Monday that the Vermont senator spoke with Harris on the phone after President Joe Biden exited the 2024 race and endorsed her.
Sanders, who competed against both Harris and Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary, said in Monday's interview that he wants Harris to make clear that "it is not acceptable that 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck while the billionaire class has never, ever had it so good."
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Senator Bernie Sanders told CBS News' @costareports that he believed Vice President Harris would be the Democratic nominee, but stopped short of endorsing her.
"If she is prepared to campaign around an agenda that speaks to the needs of the working class of this country, she… pic.twitter.com/3YnqClYFxR
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 23, 2024
In a separate interview Monday with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Sanders said he is "sure" he will ultimately endorse Harris for the Democratic nomination but stressed that he wants to see her put forth an agenda "that speaks to the long-neglected needs of working families," specifically calling for a permanent expansion of the child tax credit and an increase in the stagnant federal minimum wage.
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Sanders' interviews came shortly before Harris secured the backing of enough Democratic delegates to win the party's presidential nomination, less than two days after Biden dropped out of the race. The Democratic National Committee's rules panel is set to meet Wednesday to schedule a date for a virtual roll call vote that would cement Harris' spot at the top of the party's ticket before the convention in Chicago next month.
"This election will present a clear choice between two different visions," Harris said in a statement late Monday. "Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of us had full freedoms and equal rights. I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom, and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by, but to get ahead."
While Harris rapidly clinched the support of the Democratic establishment and congressional progressives, some have voiced concerns about her corporate ties and record as a U.S. senator and California's attorney general.
As Fortunereported Monday:
Harris has extensive ties to the tech industry—unsurprisingly for someone who was a San Francisco prosecutor as well as a California attorney general and senator. She was at the wedding of early Facebook executive Sean Parker and is close to the likes of LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs, and venture capitalist John Doerr. 'We're family,' she told Google employees in 2010 when successfully campaigning for the AG role.
According toThe Washington Post, Harris recently brought in attorney Karen Dunn as an adviser. Dunn "sits at the nexus of the Democratic establishment and Big Tech," as The American Prospectput it, having represented corporate behemoths such as Google and Uber.
The Post noted Monday that "Tony West, Harris' brother-in-law who is the chief legal officer at Uber, traveled with the vice president on Monday to Delaware and has been assisting" in the shift to a presidential run.
Lee Hepner, an antitrust lawyer and senior legal counsel for the American Economic Liberties Project, wrote Monday that "it's incredibly important that Senator Sanders and others keep pushing this campaign to reflect the needs of working Americans, not corporate America."
"I'm more optimistic than not that Harris will adopt a big tent approach to her campaign," Hepner added, "but folks who think that just happens, or that others aren't pushing really hard against a coalition-based approach, are mistaken. Politics is about pressure, leverage, and influence."
Sanders wasn't among the lawmakers who urged Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. The Postobserved Tuesday morning that "as Biden bled support after his disastrous debate in late June, Sanders was able to extract a new campaign message from Biden" that "included many of Sanders' priorities, including medical debt forgiveness, expansion of Medicare for hearing and dental, and an expansion of Social Security benefits."
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"This video is sickening," the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus Senate chair said of the newly released body camera footage. "Justice demands answers and accountability."
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Campaigners and political leaders across the United States responded with outrage and fresh calls for justice after the Monday release of body camera footage from the deadly police shooting of Sonya Massey, an unarmed 36-year-old Black woman from Springfield, Illinois.
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"Sonya's family deserves justice," added Biden, who on Sunday exited this year's presidential race and endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, for the Democratic nomination. "Congress must pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act now. Our fundamental commitment to justice is at stake."
Massey called 911 just before 1:00 am CT on July 6 to report a "prowler" near her Springfield home,
according toWCIA and the Illinois State Police (ISP), which conducted an investigation after being contacted by Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell.
Two deputies from the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office were dispatched in response to Massey's call. ISP posted a total of over 34 minutes of bodycam footage from both deputies on YouTube. The video shows a deputy shooting Massey, who had been holding a pot of water they asked her to take off the stove. Before releasing the footage, authorities blurred her body.
The bodycam footage can be viewed here on the ISP YouTube page.
Black Lives Matter Springfield warned in a Sunday statement that "the footage will be distressing. It will be infuriating, heartbreaking, and may trigger trauma responses. It may also spur hateful comments or actions online or elsewhere by those who do not share our outrage about this senseless murder."
The group encouraged the Black community "to take care of themselves during this time" and said that it "will continue to stand for justice through peaceful protest and community action for Sonya Massey and all the Black women and men who have been murdered by police before her."
Sangamon County State's Attorney John Milhiser announced last week that one deputy, 30-year-old Sean Grayson, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, and official misconduct. Campbell said that Grayson has been fired and "our office will continue to cooperate fully with the criminal proceedings as this case moves forward."
Grayson, who is white, "has pleaded not guilty" and "is being held in the Sangamon County Jail without bond," The Associated Pressreported. "If convicted, he faces prison sentences of 45 years to life for murder, six to 30 years for battery and two to five years for misconduct. His lawyer, Daniel Fultz, declined comment on Monday."
The other deputy who was on the scene has not been publicly identified.
During a Monday press conference, attorney Ben Crump said the bodycam footage would "shock the conscience of America like the pictures of Emmett Till after he was lynched" and Massey's father, James Wilburn, called for passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act—which includes various policies intended to reduce law enforcement misconduct and increase accountability.
Advocates have been sharing updates and expressing condolences on social media with the hashtag #StandWithSonya.
"Color of Change mourns Sonya Massey and we send our heartfelt condolences to the Massey family," said Kyle Bibby, the group's interim chief of campaigns and programs, in a Monday statement. "The video released today is gut-wrenching and once again shows that Black people in this country cannot escape police violence, even in their own homes. It is also a stark reminder of the urgent need to address police brutality and misconduct."
"The actions of Sean Grayson are disgraceful and inhumane, and reflect a blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of the community. His actions are an alarming reminder of how police so often disregard Black lives," Bibby continued. "It is crucial that the authorities take swift and decisive action in holding those responsible for Sonya Massey's death accountable, and work towards rebuilding trust and ensuring the safety and dignity of all individuals in our communities."
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Since Grayson was charged, political leaders across the state have commented on the case. In a Wednesday statement that remains pinned to the top of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's profile on X, formerly Twitter, the Democrat welcomed the charges and called for building "a system of justice in this country that truly protects all of its citizens."
"My heart breaks for Sonya's children, for her family and friends, and for all who knew and loved her, and I am enraged that another innocent Black woman had her life taken from her at the hands of a police officer," Pritzker also said.
The comments kept mounting after the release of the video. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Monday that "the body camera footage released today is disturbing and unconscionable. My thoughts continue to be with Sonya Massey's children, family, and loved ones as they relive these horrible moments."
Some who weighed in highlighted aspects of Illinois state law, including bodycam requirements and rules for investigations.
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Among other reforms, the bill "accelerates leasing and permitting decisions for all types of energy projects on federal lands" and requires the interior secretary to "hold at least one offshore wind lease sale and one offshore oil and gas lease sale per year" from 2025-29.
Manchin, a former right-wing Democrat with deep family ties to the coal industry, has been trying—and failing—to pass fossil fuel-friendly permitting reform legislation for years.
"This Frankenstein legislation is nothing less than the biggest giveaway in decades to the fossil fuel industry," said Brett Hartl, the government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity. "The insignificant crumbs thrown at renewable energy do nothing to address the climate crisis, but instead would make it game over for a livable planet."
Sierra Club Beyond Fossil Fuels policy director Mahyar Sorour said in a statement that "those who promote this kind of so-called 'permitting reform' claim that it's necessary to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, but in truth this is nothing more than yet another attempt by fossil fuel industry boosters to give handouts for polluters at the expense of our communities and the climate."
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There is widespread agreement that energy permitting reform is sorely needed. However, climate campaigners argue that reform efforts must not perpetuate or expand the use of planet-heating fossil fuels. Some advocates say the answer lies in legislation like the A. Donald McEachin Environmental Justice for All Act.
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