| Dear Katy, For retail workers, Black Friday is a nightmare. They face low pay, miserable working conditions, long hours, zero breaks and personal time, and intense chaos – all thanks to Wall Street's ruthless demand for more profits.1 This fall, House Democrats united to pass the Raise the Wage Act of 2019, which would immediately bump the minimum wage and raise it to $15 by 2024. If the Senate follows suit, millions of Americans – including preschool teachers, fast-food workers, bank tellers and all the retail workers suffering during Black Friday – would benefit immediately, some seeing as much as $3,500.2 Join us to ramp up the pressure on senators to stand with workers, not fat-cat CEOs. Tell the Senate: We need a $15 minimum wage now. Click here to sign the petition. A new wave of studies confirm that raising the minimum wage results in both higher pay and net job increases. As more and more data piles up, Republican opposition to raising the minimum wage becomes even more transparently about doing favors for Wall Street instead of helping working people.3 The Raise the Wage Act would eliminate the tipped wage so that even employees who get tips, like restaurant servers, are guaranteed a fair wage – a change studies show benefits workers. It would eliminate the loopholes businesses use to underpay workers. Most importantly, it would peg the minimum wage to the median wage so the minimum wage stops slipping in value.4 No one benefits more from raising the minimum wage than women and people of color forced into low-wage jobs by patriarchy and institutional racism. Forty percent of Black workers and 34% of Latinx workers would see a pay increase under the Raise the Wage Act. Nearly 56% of the overall number who would get a raise are women.5 For many of these workers, the holiday season is an absolute nightmare. Even outside the brutal crush of Black Friday, this time of year brings long hours and unpredictable schedules – often without overtime pay.6 As more and more people shop online, workers at fulfillment centers like those run by Amazon face appalling conditions. The ever-higher quotas and breakneck pace is injuring and maiming workers for life.7 The Wall Street investor class chews up working people and spits them out in order to line their own pockets – and we need to take a stand to fight back. Tell the Senate: We need a $15 minimum wage now. Click the link below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/black-friday-minimum-wage?t=9&akid=35156%2E12967895%2EzyUyZ9 Thank you for speaking out, Heidi Hess, Co-Director
CREDO Action from Working Assets Add your name: References: - Michael Sainato, "US retail workers face long hours, poor pay and 'anxiety through the roof' on Black Friday," The Guardian, Nov. 23, 2018.
- National Employment Law Project, "Raise the Wage Act of 2019 Letter of Support," Jan. 16, 2019.
- Dylan Matthews, "The economic debate over the minimum wage, explained," Vox, Nov. 20, 2019.
- National Employment Law Project, "Raise the Wage Act of 2019 Letter of Support."
- Ibid.
- Sainato, "US retail workers face long hours, poor pay and 'anxiety through the roof' on Black Friday."
- Will Evans, "Ruthless Quotas at Amazon Are Permanently Maiming Employees," The Atlantic, Nov. 25, 2019
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