American Workers Need a Raise and a Union

In Kansas City, members of CWA Locals 6360, 6355 and 6450 join Stand Up KC and support striking fast food workers today at a Kansas City Taco Bell. Photo credit: James Raines.

On MSNBC's Ed Show yesterday, CWA President Larry Cohen said all of us should stand behind the fast food workers – and Walmart workers, the Committee for Better Banks and others – who are fighting not just for a raise but for a union voice. All working Americans need a raise and need bargaining rights in order to share in today's corporate profits, he said.

Jennifer Epps-Addison, executive director of Wisconsin Jobs Now and a leader of the campaign for fairness for fast food and other low wage workers, also joined the program, and said workers were ready to do whatever it takes for their $15 an hour and their right to form a union.

Last year, Epps-Addison was awarded the Edna Award, given by the Berger-Marks Foundation to recognize contributions and leadership in social justice made by an outstanding young woman. The Foundation was established with a bequest from the estates of Edna Berger, the first female lead organizer for The Newspaper Guild-CWA, and her husband, the legendary Tin Pan Alley song-writer Gerald Marks.

In 150 cities across the country, fast food workers and supporters, including many CWAers, rallied and engaged in civil disobedience.

Read more about today's actions here.