More than 600 people rallied in the Great Hall at the Massachusetts State House Tuesday afternoon to campaign for a $15 minimum wage legislation as a part of the National Day of Action.
Throughout the day, campaign groups Fight for $15 and Raise Up Massachusetts hosted a series of protests.
Beginning early Tuesday morning, airport service workers at Boston Logan International Airport and McDonald’s employees in Cambridge went on strike to protest unfair labor practices, according to Andrew Farnitano, a spokesperson for Raise Up Massachusetts.
Rally participants campaigned for a statewide minimum wage of $15, chanting phrases such as “When we fight, we win” and “Low pay is not okay.”
Tyrek Lee, the executive vice president of 1199SEIU, and Carlha Toussaint, a leader with the Coalition for Social Justice in Boston, organized the rally.
Lee opened by thanking elected officials who attended the gathering, including Massachusetts Senate President Stan Rosenberg and State Sen. Jamie Eldridge.
Lee said Fight for $15’s cause is important in light of recent political developments.
“In the aftermath of the recent elections, we find ourselves at an unexpected moment,” Lee said. “We face real threats to our families, our values and our livelihoods. But we also face a unique opportunity to channel our emotions, as raw as they may be, into action, like we did today.”
Toussaint led the crowd in chanting, “What do we want? Fifteen! When do we want it? Now!” Then she addressed the need for a $15 minimum wage.
“I am foreign-born from Haiti and obviously as you know, the elections were targeting immigrants, people of color, LGBT community,” Toussaint said. “Everyone who’s not rich was attacked. The most unprotected group is the working class. We’re here because our livelihoods are on the line. It’s not a privilege we’re asking for. It’s our right.”
Reverend Mariama White-Hammond, a youth pastor at Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, said during the rally that the fight for a $15 minimum wage concerns human dignity.
“Our call today is to take the love we have in this room, this sense of justice, and call upon our elected officials and our Commonwealth to demonstrate love in the way that we pay for it,” White-Hammond said.
Several attendees expressed appreciation for Fight for $15’s effort to raise the minimum wage.
John Robinson, 67, of Somerville, said he came to the rally to support a movement for “dignity and justice.”
“I came out here today because it’s important that all people be paid a minimum wage that they can afford to pay rent, buy food, to raise their children and families decently,” he said. “Twenty-five percent of the people that are homeless in Boston are people with jobs.”
Kevin Devine, 67, of Braintree, said he came to show his solidarity with the Fight for $15 and to encourage Americans to be brave.
“I know that there are so many families that are getting dirt poor wages, and they can’t buy the rent and are going to become homeless,” he said. “This has got to stop! We shouldn’t be afraid, we have to be fearless, be brave and continue.”
Adiel Pollydore, 23, of Allston, a youth organizer for the Youth Jobs Coalition in the Massachusetts Communities Action Network, said Fight for $15’s initiative is a great way to address issues around economic justice.
“It saddens my heart that there are many people working two and three jobs because they don’t have access to a fair living wage,” she said. “That just simply shouldn’t be the case. That feeling of being so overwhelmed when the money that you’re making doesn’t even cover your rent … is a real problem that can be changed.”
