Happy International Workers’ Day and happy 10th birthday to the Fight For $15! A decade ago, workers stood up for fair pay and strong workplace standards against fierce corporate opposition and WON. Seattle workers then kicked off a wave of wins for low-wage workers nationwide, bringing greater economic justice and resilience to millions of people. The fight to protect and advance fair pay and dignity at work continues today, and we’re proud to be in that work.
We celebrated this past decade of greater economic justice for all at a press conference with our partners at SEIU Local 6, MLK Labor, and the Mayor of Seattle. Here’s an absolute banger from Kyle Graham, a gig worker and leader, who spoke at the conference and summarized the importance of this day so well.
“I want to remind everyone here that for every single minimum wage win in history, someone had to be the first to challenge an industry to be better. They had to look around and say, we’d all do better if we all do better. That’s not an easy thing to do. Restaurant workers had to do it, hospitality workers had to do it, health care workers had to do it. I’m proud to say that now, gig workers are doing it too.”
And our executive director, Danielle Alvarado, gave a speech reminding everyone an important truth about successful labor organizing: that workers know our industries best and we are the ones who know what we need.
"Time and time again, we have shown that workers know better than anyone what needs to change about the economy. Listening to them is how we ensure every Seattle job is a good job. Without a doubt, there's more work that we still need to do, but looking over the last decade, I am confident that with strong partnership collaboration between worker organizations, businesses and local elected officials that we will continue to show the way for the rest of the country."