Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant interviewed on Democracy Now 1/6/14-Kshama discusses her historic victory running as a socialist, the role Occupy played in turning the political tide in the US, the struggle of Boeing workers, and the $15 Now campaign.
I am pleased to hear about Mayor Murray’s executive order to begin the process of making $15/hour the minimum wage for all city workers. This move towards $15 for an estimated 600 city employees is an important step in the right direction and a victory of the growing movement of low-wage workers. It starkly demonstrates the unprecedented political momentum for a $15/hour minimum wage for all of Seattle.
As an immediate step, I appeal to Mayor Murray to insist that the thousands of city subcontractor employees not covered by today’s order also be raised to a minimum of $15.
Across the country low-wage workers are rising up, protesting, and striking for a $15/hour minimum wage.
In Seattle the movement is poised in 2014 to be the first major U.S. city to win $15. Voters in SeaTac, a small city outside Seattle, recently passed a ballot initiative for $15. A leader in the Fight for $15 in Seattle, Kshama Sawant, shocked the corporate elite by winning a City Council seat in Seattle as a Socialist Alternative candidate. Newly elected Mayor Ed Murray has also declared his support for $15. Continue reading