Fast food and retail workers are part of a $200 billion industry, yet they are among the lowest paid workers. Today, thousands of workers are striking in Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Pontiac and across the nation to take a stand for a higher minimum wage.
Click here to add your support to the fight for a higher minimum wage.
The typical fast food and retail worker makes $7.40/hour. A worker who works full time at minimum wage brings home just over $15,000/year, which is poverty level. Few workers are offered full time, so most are making less than that with no health benefits whatsoever.
Every worker deserves the right to a living wage and a voice on the job. Poverty level wages are not enough to raise a family on. Had minimum wage kept up with inflation, it would be over $21/hour! Fast food and retail workers deserve to be paid a fair living wage!
Click here to show your support for low-wage workers today.
The Michigan State AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with low-wage workers in their fight for a living wage. Click here for President Swift’s statement on the Fast Food Strikes.
The Michigan State AFL-CIO stands in solidarity with the thousands of low-wage workers who are on strike in Detroit, Flint, Lansing, Pontiac and across the nation today. Every worker deserves the right to a living wage and a voice on the job. Our elected representatives must enact federal and state minimum wage standards that reflect the values of this country. People who work every day should be able to support themselves and their families.
Over the past decade, worker productivity has continued to grow but wages have remained stagnant and even declined. If minimum wage had kept up with inflation, it would be around $21 per hour. Raising the minimum wage will ultimately increase the standard of living for all working people and ensure that every family is able to rise out of poverty.
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Media Contact: Sara Wallenfang
Scholarship Honors the Legacy of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
(Freemont, MI) – Today the Michigan AFL-CIO congratulated a local winner of the AFL-CIO “Dreams of Jobs and Freedom” Scholarship. Anna Zeerip received a one-time $5,000 award for the academic year beginning in fall 2013 through summer 2014.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, the AFL-CIO is offering scholarships to help graduating high school seniors realize their dreams of a college education. Zeerip is one of 60 recipients around the country from union households and community groups to receive the scholarship.
These scholarships will further educational dreams for many, but the scholarship will also continue the legacy of the March on Washington. “Dreams of Jobs and Freedom” scholarship recipients will also be acknowledged at the upcoming AFL-CIO convention in Los Angeles this September.
The Michigan AFL-CIO congratulates Anna Zeerip on receiving the “Dreams of Jobs and Freedom” scholarship and wishes her success in future endeavors.
For more information on the Dreams for Jobs and Freedom Scholarship visit: http://www.aflcio.org/About/Member-Benefits/Scholarships/2013-Dreams-of-Jobs-and-Freedom-Scholarship
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Media Contact: Sara Wallenfang
Michigan State AFL-CIO President Karla Swift on the Passage of Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid expansion is a victory for over 400,000 of Michigan’s most vulnerable families, but the way in which it was passed was plagued with political gamesmanship and months of delays. Today’s vote made it clear that the Tea Party controls some Lansing politicians. While they were busy playing games and negotiating back room deals, the lives of children, veterans, and the working poor were on the line. We urge our representatives in the House to pass the revised bill as soon as possible. Every second counts in the lives of Michigan’s most vulnerable citizens.
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Media Contact: Elizabeth Battiste
(248)404-7846, ebattiste@miaflcio.org
