The living wage fight visits the capital

THE NATIONAL walkout/strike movement for fair pay for low-wage workers took root in Washington, D.C. on May 21.

At least 800 people--including low-wage workers at businesses connected to the federal government and their supporters--gathered around the statue of Black labor leader A. Phillip Randolph inside Union Station and let loose helium balloons attached to flags that read "Strike!" These banners will be falling from the rafters all week.

According to Josh Eidelson reporting at TheNation.com, organizers expected the one-day walkout to include workers employed at the Smithsonian museums, the Old Post Office, various federal offices and the establishments in D.C.'s Union Station.

The crowd at Union Station was multiracial, but predominantly African American. Most demonstrators were from D.C., Philadelphia and New York, with a crew from Chicago. Among all the people participating, it was impossible to tell how many were themselves federal contract workers, but several of them spoke, and the whole crowd was loud and proud in support of the demand for a living wage at companies that do business with the U.S. government.

The most popular chant was "President Obama, raise our pay!" Seeing a majority African American crowd chant this one week after both Obamas were chiding audiences at historically Black colleges for their poor work ethics and wanting to be "ballers and rappers" was particularly satisfying.

I spoke with Michael Maynor, a disabled vet and low-wage fast-food worker at a federal facility. "I'm out here to increase my living standard," he said. "I feel like I'm not living, just surviving. My monthly wage keeps me going only two weeks. For the last two weeks, I'm at the food bank just surviving. Going to a movie, getting my mom a birthday present...that's just not a part of my life."

According to Eidelson at the Nation:

Today's strike follows the release last week of a report from the progressive think tank Demos estimating that at least 1,992,000 workers receive $12 per hour or less while doing jobs backed by public funds. "Through federal contracts and other funding," authors Amy Traub and Robert Hiltonsmith wrote, "our tax dollars are fueling the low-wage economy and exacerbating inequality."

During the day of protests, speakers like Rev. Graylan Hagler directly tied this struggle to the civil rights movement of half a century ago. "When you stand up for a living wage, you're also standing up for communities," Hagler said. "You're also standing up for your values. There is no justice without economic justice!"

As he spoke, petitions aimed directly at Barack Obama were being passed around calling on him to immediately force federal contractors to raise wages to a livable standard. Speakers also cited the recent walkouts of fast-food workers in big cities around the country as the inspiration for this gathering.

Organizers passing around the petitions were wearing shirts that read "Strike for goodjobsnation.org ". The word "strike" was on signs, placards, shirts, and the lips of all speakers. You felt like this is a movement that has real life and will only grow in the future.