Statement by MaryBe McMillan on 'Fight for 15' Strikes and Rallies Sweeping Across NC

For Immediate Release

Contact: Jeremy Sprinkle, Communications Director, [email protected], 336-255-2711

Statement by NC State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer MaryBe McMillan on 'Fight for 15' Strikes and Rallies Sweeping Across North Carolina

“Everyone who works in North Carolina should take a cue from the Fight for 15 and ask for a raise this year.”

RALEIGH, N.C. (April 15, 2015) – The North Carolina State AFL-CIO released the following statement from Secretary-Treasurer MaryBe McMillan on the largest one-day mobilization of low-wage workers in the history of North Carolina.

“Workers in the ‘Fight for 15 and a union’ are the vanguard of a resurgent labor movement in the South, a movement that is focused on raising wages for all workers and empowering them to bargain collectively for their share of the wealth and prosperity made possible by their labor.

“Two-and-a-half years since the first 200 fast-food workers walked off the job in New York City, low-wage workers in big cities and small towns across North Carolina have found the courage to demand raises and claim their union rights by standing up and standing together. The strikes and rallies today are evidence that their ranks are growing, and that should be welcome news to the legions of workers here who are working hard while hardly getting by.

“In fact, everyone who works in North Carolina should take a cue from the Fight for 15 and ask for a raise this year. They've earned it. We've all earned it. And our economy and democracy will be better off for it.

“Raising wages is the cure for the inequality now plaguing the nation.”

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The North Carolina State AFL-CIO is the largest association of local unions and union councils in North Carolina, representing union members, fighting for good jobs, safe workplaces, workers’ rights, consumer protections, and quality public services on behalf of ALL working families.  PO Box 10805, Raleigh, NC 27605.