In the News

By Katie DeLong and CNN Wire Service

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)— Low-wage workers across the country kicked off a national day of protest Wednesday, April 15th — demanding $15 an hour. In Milwaukee, a rally was held Wednesday afternoon at Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee.

Besides fast food workers, members of the Coalition for Justice participated in the rally. The Coalition for Justice formed after Dontre Hamilton was shot and killed by former Milwaukee Police Officer Christopher Manney. Organizers say the goal of the Coalition for Justice is to improve the community, and they believe better wages would help a lot of people in Milwaukee.

“Right now you have parents that want to be responsible but look irresponsible because they can’t make enough to pay their bills so then they create an atmosphere for children who really don’t believe that working is going to put food on the table,” Dontre Hamilton’s brother Nate Hamilton said.

A separate rally was held at the McDonald’s restaurant at 3131 N. Mayfair Road at 6:00 a.m. and at the UW-Milwaukee Student Union on E. Kenwood Boulevard at 4:30 p.m.

Wisconsin Jobs Now held a rally at Grand Avenue Mall during the noon hour.

Wisconsin Congresswoman Gwen Moore supports higher wages for America’s workforce, and released this statement to FOX6 News:

“Last year, I was arrested in Milwaukee while protesting shoulder to shoulder with our city’s fast-food workers during a nationwide strike to raise the minimum wage. Our message was clear: America’s workers deserve better. (Wednesday), our message is amplified by the voices of students, teachers, parents, and those from the private and public sectors. Their collective support for a living wage and the right to collectively bargain can be heard from coast to coast, sending a clear message to America’s workforce that we are in their corner. I am proud to be one of those voices.

I stand with the brave activists back in Milwaukee and across the country who are speaking out today for a fair minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to form a union. Over 55 million workers make less than $15 an hour, a wage too low to support a family. Minorities are particularly likely to make less than $15 an hour, including 54% of African American workers and 58% of Hispanic workers.

There are those who believe that the opportunity for prosperity and success should be exclusively for those with white-collar jobs, but nothing could be further from the truth. America’s workers – from fast-food employees and child care providers to educators and manufacturers – are the backbone of our nation’s economy. Despite their pivotal role in spurring economic growth and development, many of these workers struggle to provide the basics for their family. This is simply unacceptable.”

Protests on behalf of low-wage workers took place Wednesday from coast to coast, with demonstrators in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities demanding pay of $15 an hour.

In Brooklyn, about 300 workers kicked off the national day of demonstration at 6 a.m. on Flatbush Avenue to call for better salaries and benefits.

“What do we want? $15! When do we want it? Now!” the workers chanted.

Later in the day about 1,000 protesters marched to Columbus Circle in Manhattan, occupying four blocks of Central Park West.

“We demand the right to earn a living wage. We have a right to take care of our families just like the Trumps,” said local union president George Gresham at the rally just outside the Trump Hotel.

Workers also demonstrated at McDonald’s restaurants in Jackson, Mississippi, Boston, Denver, Albany, New York, Detroit and elsewhere, according to reports and pictures on Twitter. More protests were planned for later Wednesday in what organizers said would be the largest such demonstration of its kind.

In New York, April Rodriguez, a construction worker and single mother with three children, said she works from 7 am to 9 pm and still struggles to pay her bills.

“I hope the workers get what they need to survive because the cost of everything keeps going up but the wages stay down,” Rodriguez said.

The movement for $15 an hour started more than two years ago with fast-food workers in New York and a handful of other cities.

Now, a broad coalition of employees from the retail industry to home care aides and adjunct university professors have joined the protests.

Jacqueline Taylor was an adjunct professor at New York institute of Technology, where she taught courses in art, before she was laid off.

“I feel that corporations and institutions are taking in huge profits at the expense of low wage workers,” she said. “It’s a disgrace.”

The demonstrations are being organized by a group called Fight for $15, which is backed by community- and faith-based groups, as well as labor unions such as Service Employees International Union.

“Working people are going to keep speaking out in the streets, in their communities, and at the ballot box until we raise wages, strengthen the economy, and build a democracy that works for all families,” said SEIU president Mary Kay Henry.

Organizers say students at more than 100 universities nationwide plan to participate in Wednesday’s demonstrations. They also expect fast food workers and others to protest in Italy, Brazil and Japan, among other international locations.

All told, organizers expect 15,000 workers, students and activists to take part in the various protests in New York City.

The protests are taking place just weeks after McDonald’s announced a pay hike for workers, but that increase is only taking effect at the McDonald’s-owned restaurants and not the franchises that employ 90% of the company’s workers.

McDonald’s said in a statement that it respects “people’s right to peacefully protest.” The company reiterated that it recently raised wages for workers at company-owned restaurants and continues to “look at opportunities that will make a difference for employees.”

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