Fight for $15 Protests Break Out Across Tampa Bay

TAMPA, FL — As Fight for $15 staged its National Day of Disruption Tuesday, workers across the Tampa Bay area are lending their voices to the effort to obtain a higher minimum wage.

Fight for $15 is a national campaign that was launched by the Service Employees International Union. The group’s National Day of Disruption involves protests in cities across the country, including Chicago, Tampa and Boston. Protesters include fast-food, child care, airport and health care workers. Uber drivers were also reportedly joining in in some areas.

While an airport protests were planned in some areas, such as Chicago, McDonald’s workers have been largely among those to take to the streets in the Tampa Bay area.

Protesters reportedly blocked a McDonald’s drive-through on East Hillsborough Avenue Tuesday morning. A rally was also planned at Centennial Park in Tampa Tuesday evening and in front of St. Petersburg’s City Hall.

“For too long, McDonald’s and low-wage employers have made billions of dollars in profit and pushed off costs onto taxpayers, while leaving people like us – the people who do the real work – to struggle to survive,” the nationalgroup’s website says. “That is why we strike. We can’t feed our families, pay our bills or even keep a roof over our heads on minimum wage page.”

Florida’s minimum wage is $8.05 an hour, a rate protesters say makes paying for necessities nearly impossible.

“Right now workers have to burn the candle at both ends to make enough to pay the bills, and still find time to spend with their families,” Florida Fight for $15 explains on its website.

The push a $15 an hour minimum wage began several years ago. Since then, protesters have been successful in seeing legislation pass to raise pay in such areas as New York State, California and Seattle, among others. Florida, however, is only on track to increase its minimum by 5 cents – to $8.10 an hour – in 2017.

To find out more about the Fight for $15, visit the group’s website.

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