"Across the country low-wage workers are rising up, protesting, and striking for a $15/hour minimum wage. Here in Seattle the movement is poised in 2014 to be the first major U.S. city to win $15. Already we have seen the impact of the fast food workers' movement and the electrifying victory of Kshama Sawant with the new Seattle mayor signing an executive order lifting the wages of all city workers to $15. This victory is a taste of what's possible when working people rise up and make themselves heard.
But big business will not let this pass without a fight. They will mobilize their resources to derail, delay, and dilute efforts to end the poverty wages that are the source of their profits. The only way we can counter the power of Corporate America is by building a massive grassroots campaign with local neighborhood and campus groups, town hall meetings, mass rallies, and strikes.
Newly elected Seattle Council-member Kshama Sawant, along with a growing list of workers, unions, and activists, have come together to form the 15 Now! campaign. Sunday Jan. 12th, the kick off rally for this historic campaign was held at the jam packed King County Labor Council hall. This program contains highlights from this electrifying event.
Speakers include:
Katie Wilson (MC), Transit Riders Union
Dave Freiboth, Executive Secretary, King Co. Labor Council
Adbi Mohamed - Somali American Public Advocacy Committee who played a key role in the struggle for $15/hr in Seatac
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party Ireland, Member of Irish Parliament, Committee for a Workers International
Kshama Sawant, City Councilwoman -Socialist, Seattle
Cameras by Ed Mays and Todd Boyle"
