$15 Minimum Wage to Be Major Issue in 2020 Elections

WASHINGTON–The entire 2020 Democratic presidential field has publicly touted the need to double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. According to APNews, support for the proposal reflects the success of the Service Employees International Union, which has promoted the idea through a campaign called “Fight for 15,” which aims to get higher wages for foodservice and other workers.

Officially, the federal minimum wage remains $7.25 an hour. But the National Employment Law Project reports that one-third of the country will have a $15 minimum wage, the result of gradual wage increases in Democratic states, such as New York and California.

Fight for 15 has demonstrated a different form of labor organizing as traditional union membership has declined.

“The labor movement is reinventing themselves as a new civil rights movement by helping workers in ways beyond collective bargaining,” said Gary Chaison, an industrial relations professor at Clark University in Massachusetts. “This may be the last national political contest for the unions. A loss means the loss of relevancy as a workplace voice, and a win means a new purpose for the unions, outside of collection bargaining.”

Unions still need dues-paying members to survive, and the movement is redoubling its efforts to pressure McDonald’s into allowing employees to unionize. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls, including New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, are expected to join workers on picket lines this week. McDonald’s workers are expected to picket outside the company’s board meeting in Dallas today. McDonald’s has said that allowing unions is a decision for the franchisees who own the restaurants, not for the corporation.