 All right, welcome everybody. You are in the right place for the how the fight for 15 wins webinar Being hosted by stand on earth. I'm Anne from stand on earth and we have three wonderful presenters from the fight for 15 So we have with us today Kendall fells Kendall is the national organizing director for the fight for 15 He's a trained a team of new community organizers that help pull off the first ever fast food strike in New York City in November 2012 months later. He helped organize the second New York City strike with twice as many workers as the initial walkout The strikes sparked a movement that has spread to 190 cities around the country and nearly three dozen countries around the world and Kendall, thank you for being with us today I'm also going to introduce Francis Holmes Francis is a McDonald's striker and a st. Louis fight for 15 liter Francis has worked at McDonald's for over a year She used to work cleaning the 18t building in the scott trade center for 11 years before she lost her job there This is her first non-union job Her mother is 84 years old and she helps support her She's got two grown kids and six grandkids and she wants to help support and Support them and they're growing up in their lives and I want to she also went to a couple of years of school at SLU and is interested in Becoming a lawyer, but has found it to be to be challenging while also raising kids and among Francis's skills is getting Everyone in her store to walk out on strikes and we're going to hear more from Francis in just a minute about how she makes that work We have Angie Godoy who is a McDonald's worker and she's an LA fight for 15 liter She's a member of the national organizing committee Angie has worked at McDonald's for several years and is currently going to college She's been a leader in the LA fight for 15 and has organized dozens of her coworkers on multiple strikes Angie has built the movement beyond the US helping win a historic victory against zero hour contracts in New Zealand and Meeting with European elected officials around these issues and she lives with her mom and her two siblings Thank you so much to all of our panelists for today And I also want to say thank you to some of the folks from the fight who are behind the scenes To Kyle and to Emily and Shannon for helping make all of this happen today. And so With that we're gonna start off. We'll start off with Kendall and then we'll hear from Francis and Angie So hey to Francis and St. Louis Look, I just wanted to just give some context to You know why we're on this webinar where this campaign came from so back in 2012 There was a Community organization in YCC in New York that was out doing canvassing Canvassing low-wage workers and what they found out is that fast food workers Couldn't have the conversation about affordable housing that the organization was trying to have Because they were making so little money and had so many issues inside of the store You know, I was sent out to New York To start to meet with these workers because they had so many issues and really what came out is That, you know, you have workers who were working in these stores anywhere from one year to ten years to twenty years in the same store They were all making seven dollars and twenty five cent. You have workers who were being fired For anything literally there was a woman at the meeting who got fired for eating the chicken nugget Because she was starving. They fired her another woman in a meeting had gotten fired Because she drank water out of a a medium cup instead of a small water cup You know and they they just had no real recourse for issues inside the store They had no way to get raises and frankly they were making seven dollars and twenty five cent in New York City So a lot of them were living in homeless shelters. They were sleeping in parks. They were sleeping in their cars They were couchsurfing and you know, they were workers who have real issues and You know come to find out, you know in New York in across the country fast food is one of the fastest-growing Industries in the country. So when we got those workers together, those workers were ready to take action November of 2012 and 200 of them ended up going on strike in New York City It is worth saying that at the time these workers had two demands one demand was fifteen dollars an hour They were making seven dollars and twenty five cent and these workers are the ones who created the fifteen dollar demand The way that they created that demand is they thought that Fifteen dollars might just be enough for them to be able to pay their rent pay for food and put foot and put clothing on their back Just the necessities of life and that's how they came with fifteen and The union was a way for them to have a voice on the job deal with unfair firings deal with Disrespectful managers deal with all the deal with being burned on a job the sexual harassment All the issues that were happening inside the store that they had no recourse for they wanted a union So they have a voice on the job and obviously this was New York City Where workers were just a lot more familiar with unions and being in an organization and workers having a voice So when people started to hear about these workers Thinking about going on strike people literally thought it was the craziest thing that had ever heard of the idea that a fast food worker Who could get fired for anything who would actually go on strike meaning they're not in a union They're not gonna show up to work all of them together Don't show up to work and then they show up in front of the store with like five hundred seven hundred people with signs Saying we deserve fifteen dollars an hour and we deserve organization so we can have a voice on a job So it took a lot of courage for people to walk off the job And you know people who know about it thought that it was pointless fast food workers will never get a union $15 with two was too much and that a fast food worker would never Never make $15 and people actually thought that all these workers would get fired So, you know 200 workers went on strike in November 29th of 2012 They ended up sparking a movement that went from New York City in November of 2012 That was one city by the end of 2013. We were in a hundred cities Across the US by the end of 2014. We were in 190 cities. Plus. We had gone global by the end of 2015 We were in 270 cities in the US and then the strike that we just did this year April of 2016 we had 320 cities were now not only just fast food workers, but fast food workers leading You know now joined by home care workers child care workers higher and Convenience store workers gas station workers, etc. These workers have literally sparked the biggest Movement of low-wage workers that the country has ever seen so on top of just the actual growth Of the fast food strike so more fast food workers born on strike in more cities You have more industries of workers who are involved almost every major low-wage industry of workers now involved in a fight for 15 And then these workers have grown these huge coalitions in their cities coalitions that are built of unions built of pastors Community leaders community organizations community residents Etc. And these are the people who want these workers back into work to make sure they get back safe They join them on the strike line because they understand the impact on the community where workers make more money They have more money to spend in their community and stores end up hiring more staff and People have safer communities etc. So they built we built these coalitions in all of these cities And then we have probably at this point over a hundred national partners Who are engaged on various levels and trying to help these workers in their fight? And this fight is really against the fast food industry, but McDonald's specifically because McDonald's is the leader of the industry McDonald's has the ability to lead not only other fast food companies, but company other company companies in a broad sense There's second largest private employer other companies follow behind their practices And you know to the point of these workers being crazy when this campaign started Let's just talk about let me quickly just go through some of the victories That these workers have been able to create I would say the top line Governor Cuomo the governor of New York State who it was hard to tell where Governor Cuomo stood on his campaign back in November of 2012 when people were very skeptical Next thing you know Governor Cuomo a couple of years after these fast food workers go on strike He's creates he blows the dust off this antiquated system called the wage board That no one had it really ever heard of next thing, you know 180 to 200,000 fast food workers in New York State have $15 not too long after that $15 minimum wage across the state of California after winning it in multiple cities We want $15 the you know same day or the next day in New York State Private employer UPMC the largest private employer in Pennsylvania went to $15 voluntarily so you had in between New York Pennsylvania and California in about a week you had 10 million workers on a path to $15 and with minimum wages that have raised across the country in places like Chicago another top line You know Rama manual someone who's never really been a supporter of workers in higher wages He raised the minimum wage not to 15, but to 13 the difference is ramen menu actually campaign Off a $13 an hour minimum wage in order to win his last election and now Folks in Chicago on their way to 13, which is a lot further than they were Prior to You know and then I think you know It's worth noting just the effect on the overall politics of the country if people have been following the presidential Election closely all the presidential candidates on the Democratic side were in support of 15 and all the the Republican candidates at some point have been questioned about income inequality Or about higher wages are specifically about the fight for 15 and what workers are out doing in the streets So I would just say that you know the the coalitions these workers have built with unions with community groups with churches, but also with Black lives matter With the Ferguson Commission and all of these different racial justice immigration groups It has birth a movement now about the country that spans not only 320 cities across the US But also in now in the 40 countries around the globe and you know Companies like Facebook and Edna and nationwide insurance and now I just heard that In Canada a province just went and I think it's Alberta just went to $15 yesterday So you just have all these $15 in our minimum wages popping up you have all these companies going to 15 voluntarily you have The unusual suspects of politicians that are figuring out how to get behind these workers and these huge Coalitions that these workers have built and I'm just noting that all of this started out in New York City with 200 workers Who were called crazy when they walked out the job for $15 in a union and now we have leaders like Francis and like Angie Who are leading essentially the biggest movement of low-wage workers that that the country seen in at least 75 to 100 years Terrific and Kendall let me just ask you one question before Before our next panelist so when you were helping organize the first protest with 200 people Do you have any idea how very big this could get and and it's so so how did you know What did you see making the difference that you knew this is this is big deal now, but it's gonna get really huge You know when I honestly when I got to New York your old 17 year old, you know, like teenagers when I people who were like 25 years old and this is a room with you know at 1.40 another point 80 another point probably 150 workers In all of these workers overwhelmingly or over the age of 30 And so I had no idea that it would be this big But I think that what I didn't know at that point was was that the workers were extremely upset They were willing to do whatever it took to make their point And when they took the strike vote and it was unanimous that they were gonna walk out the job Even with their co-workers family members and anybody who knew about it calling them crazy I knew that we had a shot because when workers are willing to do whatever it takes to win Then you always have a shot at building something real and something that can be sustained And I just would say that you know the workers have taken this fight into their hands And they are the reason that this campaign has gone so far because they are so brave and they are so willing to go on strike And they are willing to lose that pay and they are willing to take on the second largest private employer And frankly they're willing to get out there and tell their personal stories about living at homeless shelters I'm not being able to feed their children not eating sometimes so that their children can eat sometimes walking one hour two hour three hours to work And just you know, it's hard to tell those stories But those have been the stories that have captured the hearts and minds of Americans and Folks in other countries and that's why this movement has gotten so big and why they have so much support right now Fantastic Kendall. Thank you so much. We're gonna bring up Francis There you go Hey friends I had to go to work and raise my two children I Come from a large family. I have Siblings, I have three brothers three sisters five brothers and Came up with my parents in the household Not knowing that it was struggling because we never lived were like what you would call in Missouri Where the poor people live the project We've never lived in the project. We always had a home Oh, I Never knew that we were struggling until I got old enough Story that my family figured out that my parents were really struggling so that made me That gave me a little push to drug, I mean, you know to try to survive with my so And then you just want to just want to tell you a little about what it was back in Our market for our home was like $98 69 cents a month for a four bedroom house I Live now in a one apartment in my room is 706 I just got lucky I got that I guess I Haven't they make some we thought that there so before I was really struggling. I stayed in a board house. I live there for over a year and a half I live then in the board house for like over a year and a half So that was a struggle for me. It was a place where my family couldn't really come and visit See my great kids really they couldn't I'm there spend time with me. I couldn't see my Kids really living there It's like a fee for the great kids to stay overnight Stuff which I couldn't afford so I work McDonald's and McDonald's is the second largest employer in the United States So I mean should be possible within my life situation Which I'm not Comfortable, I don't think we all were comfortable. I don't think any of us will be here doing this webinar today It wouldn't be a need for the webinar because we will be okay. We're gonna have to be out here Trying to make this happen or make it happen all across the world Some people have gotten it We hope we had in here in Missouri Like Look at every choice and took it back. So that was like really unfair Give us the minimum wage raise and then like let your back Actually, they took it back like like before minimum wage was supposed to go in before the race was Took it back like that night. So that wasn't that was not it at all But that's a little about me personally and why I'm in 5 for 15 I'm in the fight for 15 because I'm a 53 year old parent and I'm struggling in my life Man, it will be easy to go and live with someone and sleep from couch to couch or We were a relative of a friend, but That's not what I want my life. So I Get out if I can't in the fight as hard as I can and we Here in St. Louis We just I can't speak to them. I'm gonna speak for Francis Fight the fight because of the fight because of the struggle My oldest grandchild is like right. He just turned 16. So he's getting into the workforce and I don't want my grandson and my other grandchildren to go through The struggles that I've been born through. It's not they are young black men and they need the support of Everybody, I mean fighting 15 the black lives matter They need everybody's help to make it through from this point to the next point in their lives My work history Worked a union job. I used to work for a company called ABM. It was a SCIU union Was the union that I was in which was showing 15 now and My life was Better, I mean, it was a lot better than when I was in the union. So I know what What it is to be in a union and the benefits and Better living situation of the union. I've been working for a fast food now for Two I want to say two and a half years. I've been a fast food. So I joined the fight to Just make things better. It's not It's not Good working for McDonald's. I mean, they are Breeding for themselves. It's they it's about McDonald's. It's never about the employees No raises Well, they do give our rates five and ten cents. And that's really nothing when you have to work like Four positions within your eight-hour shift, you know, I mean, they should really pay us what we want People don't think that fast food workers or words 15 dollars an hour We're worth that Everybody want to say that it's young children that work at McDonald's It's not it's You can barely find a teenager working at McDonald's now. I mean, it's parents grandparents It's like older people and That's who's working these fast food restaurants now. It's not the kids. The kids don't want to do that That's not what the kids want to do. The kids are doing other things. They're not working too much in too fast food so we're The older people myself Francis, I'm like I said, I'm struggling so I need For this webinar to go great. I think people to you know, know that I am struggling. I sit here in my work uniform And I just got off of work, but this is very important to me and I feel like I just feel like This is a fight for pain. I'm just nothing else. I would rather be doing it right at this point in time in my life but making this movement this movement is bigger than Martin Luther King's Movement we're moving. He was just moving a little in the south We're moving all over the world and we need to know that This is important to us only for us. It should be important to people so that the next generation knows Everybody wants to know why there's so much crime and Things in the street. It's because people don't have any money If they pay people what they were worth some of the crimes and all of that would truly Gradually go away because people will be able to support them They will be able to take care of home. They would have to be out there to meet the plans to get And do for their families if we were making a living wage so The last thing I'm going to say in this uh, at this moment is I want to thank everybody who's uh out there visiting and watching the webinar and in St. Louis we have a fan Our fan is show me 15 Show me 15 and the union. So I want to thank everybody for listening to me. Thank you, Francis I've got um, just a couple questions for you real quick before we switch. So, um Did you go to a meeting like the one that Kendall described in new york? Did you go to a meeting to to plan some of the first actions in st. Louis? How did you get involved in the campaign? um I got involved uh a young man named James Houston came into the McDonald's while working in the organizer and uh I just want to be honest like when he first approached me I Was hesitant. I like they were my phone number, but I never asked I'm the kind of person have to Research and find the answers for myself But once I did that once I went on to show me 15 We'll play the whatever I started looking for james the man who had originally Approached me and I found him he came back into my school one day and I thought them and asked them What can I do? What do I do to be in the campaign? And he invited me to a show me 15 leaders meeting So I went to the meeting and that was like a year and a half ago and I've been here every since I've been in show me 15 every since then and I don't like one of the Uh Probably this one thing because I live a brief show me Like I said in my earliest paper there's nothing else in this world. I'd rather be doing right now They're fighting it's fine and um Francis When during the introductions, I was noting that one of the things that you're known for is being able to get everybody in your Shop to come out. How do you do that? I'm pretty persuasive No, uh, actually, um, it's just that you have to really, um Agitate The workers you have to agitate them with issues that's going on in their lives What's going on in their world? It's worth where they're working and once you get them agitated about What's going on and how they're being mistreated? They pretty much seem to want to make things better for themselves. So I have not only Uh, shut down my store. I have shut down like maybe two more stores inside my store We couldn't pick them for the strikes and we getting ready for a strike. So starting tomorrow I'm going to Try to start 50 people ready for when we get ready to go out For our next action. I'm going to start tomorrow and Work till it's time to to do it and I'll probably bring out me personally. I'll probably have about anywhere from 50 to 75 people Out myself just me alone Thank you. Are any of those people first-time strikers Uh, yes, uh, like now where I work. It's not where I was working when I first started the campaign Uh, where I worked now. I worked in west of world, Missouri where they It was it was it was a non active store So now I have uh, my my store very active It's like it's only like 15 of us work there and I'm pretty much going to bring out at least 14 out of the 15 programs that work there And can you last question for now? Can you tell us when people are going to strike for their first time? How do you how do you get them? Ready to do that if they're nervous about it? Um, where most people are because the first thing they say is I'm going to lose my job That's the first thing a person would say is Are you sure I'm not going to lose my job? No, you are it's your natural right to do A one-day strike. It's federal law. So yes, you would not lose your job. You have to I use myself for an example. I let them know how many times I've been on strike and how long I've been Working for McDonald's. I haven't been fired. I haven't been recommended They can't recommend you for going on strike. They can't cut your hours. They can't You know, they can't do any of those things. They can't put you on suspension because you uh, went on strike That's not Then it's consequences to the Owners like managers of the school if they do those things great. Thank you, Francis I'm thank you. We'll sit tight. We're going to close your webcam and and your mic for now and then we'll bring you back in a minute I'm from Los Angeles. I'm a college student. I've been working for McDonald's for two years and a half. Um, I make 10 50 I've been there for two years. Like I said, I've organized my my store taking out a little bit over a dozen of my co-workers on strike I got involved in this campaign a little bit over as soon as it started working. I'm at McDonald's Um And I joined because at first the first person I thought was my mom, you know, she's been working her whole life to support me and my My two younger siblings So I started working because I thought I was gonna help but my income wasn't helping at all And I thought 15 sounds sounds right for me and it started more of a domestic issue But slowly as I got more involved, I started noticing that it wasn't just in my house. It was of a it was All across my city and the state, you know, and as I got more involved and I I I just noticed it was across my country And when we were not strikes, you would see You would see people from everywhere It was just something cool, you know, I'm like, oh, I'm I'm really Into it. I I enjoy it, you know, you organize your workers your co-workers Not only that but you get to organize your city too because You know, like if I'm organizing my co-worker, I'm pretty sure they're gonna bring out Also, they're they're they're like sister Who also might work at another festival and slowly that's how we started growing And then you you also see community people coming out. For example, when I fasted 15 days um, last year in April right after a strike in April and You you saw people coming everywhere just to support myself and the other women who were breasting And that you know, like that That's how it starts off just by you supporting us. We support you You support us and that's how we start connecting with other people Sorry And it's it's just it's an it's an amazing experience how the fight for 15 has impacted my life Because for example when I started working at McDonald's, I wasn't even thinking about college because I couldn't afford it I was getting paid eight dollars an hour and That couldn't even pay my my home bill with eight dollars because I still had to give my mom food I'm learning for food and for the rent So it has improved my life and I know if it's improving my life in my home I'm sure it's improving many other people's lives as well here in california and in new york and the small victories we've had along the country Sorry, it's just amazing how uh, it's affected everyone who who has who has Been part of our movement or who has believed in us, you know, like when we started people thought we were crazy and We're not crazy as you could see we're winning and you know We're we're always here We're always you make sure that they don't forget that we're not so that makes it like um, sorry our little So we keep people motivated and boosting, you know, like oh, we're not going anywhere and we show I'm not sure people that we have um, their bags just like I would expect I think on my back if something happens to me, you know, so it's It's an amazing experience. You know, your friends your Your family slowly starts growing you say, you know, like when I started my family was just four of us And I'm part of the country, you know, and just like them like I I'm sure I have other people All across the country who have my bag and have been You know, and like that's that's beautiful thing about this movement But like we may not know each other physically, but we we know our struggles, you know Our struggles somehow might be different, but somehow they connect so I think like That's that's what it's like There's just this connection that you connect with people and It's beautiful. Like that's all I could say about that Angie, this is let me let me ask you just to talk about that a little bit In LA who are what are some of the other movements that you're that you're working alongside? Well, we work with for example, we work with like life matter. We work with immigration committee, right and What we work with Also farm workers, I don't know if you know this great victory here in California that the governor just signed through bills or over time and We just have support we have strategies come out or come work with our car wash workers and union so those are some of the some of the Movements we work with here And so are you does that mean that you are Um going to each other's actions, you know, physically supporting. Are you talking together about tactics? Tell us a little bit more about what that working together looks like Oh, well, yeah, we go to their actions, you know, like They could have an action here. So some like I would go with probably other workers and We'll support them and then they'll support us. We also talk about tactics. We have meetings here and there together When they have a meeting we go We we're there. We we get involved with them just like they get involved with us We also bottle. Um, for example, and um At the earlier this year, if I'm not mistaken, I think it was in January We had an ice And I I stay out of LA They had a post like POTUS and we were in front of the detention center We shut it down for I think for like four hours and we're there Terrific. Okay. I have one last question for you and then we'll we'll open up two questions from the audience and um everyone go ahead and find your questions pain and um and We'll go ahead and open this up for your questions in just a moment. So um Angie you brought up a really good point which is keeping people Excited between strikes And so you said that that sometimes there are smaller actions and other things that you do Can you talk about those a little bit more? That's what we had. Oh one of um another co-worker. She wasn't getting her pay stick day and um we had around workers and from her store and um Doing like an action until until the manager came out spoke to us and we delivered uh Petitions a box for the petitions night for her to get um her hours her Her pay her pay stick day is because McDonald's wouldn't want to pay them unless she had a doctor's note And what she did is but they were just you know saying that they couldn't give her her stick day And uh the next day as soon as she walks back to work They actually catered her her pay stick day with with no problem So sometimes you'll bring a whole bunch of people in support of one One worker at one store And kind of put put all of you know like if there's something that's gonna go wrong For just one person We're gonna bring as many people as we can because that's what we're here for to support each other and create this bond, you know that And to demonstrate that we're strong and we're gonna be stronger and we're just gonna grow stronger Fantastic, okay. Angie hold on. I'm gonna bring up the other Web cams And we'll see the questions that we have from the audience And I've got a couple more questions and you guys should also feel free to ask each other questions if If you like so, let's see what we've got in the questions area here Okay, I see a question from Laura s and a question from tithony k So i'm going to go ahead and start off by opening up Laura's Line give me just a minute to do that. It's my Co-worker Laura. Hang on just a second Laura. We'll get your line open here Okay, Laura. It looks like you're on self mute too See if we can open up your line and There we go. See if we can hear you Hi everyone I was wondering if you have any lessons learned from this fight that you'd like to share Well, but um, just telling your story and opening up to people you you build Relationships with you know and like I mentioned before you realize that not only is it Struggle, but it's a lot of people's struggles And we all we all connect one way or another, you know, like if it's not like oh, we're not we're not able to To afford to pair rent or it's just You know, we're slowly winning. We're having these victories. We're connecting like, you know, that that's That's one of the Lessons that I've learned as a person Anyone else want to jump in on that lessons learn things that maybe have surprised you from From your work with the campaign that you that you carry forward and use use for For the work ahead And that's Francis you want to go? Or you want me to Okay, uh Like just to piggyback off of what Angie said just this idea of focusing on similarities instead of differences I think that you know when you look at the powers that be and you look at companies like mcdonald's And frankly, you know, most companies Around the us and around the world what what these companies try to do and the powers that be whether you're talking about elected officials Powerful companies, etc. They try to figure out ways for people to concentrate on their differences So I should concentrate on the fact that i'm black and that angie's latina and that, you know Francis is a woman and that i'm a public sector worker And i'm a private sector worker and I have a union, but you don't and i'm part of s ciu But you're part of the teamsters so everything's about Concentrating on what's different and the reason for me to stay siloed off and not deal with other people And I think what a big lesson of the fight for 15 has been is that focusing on small similarities the similarity that brings together all of these workers rather they're angie and frances who work in fast food Whether they're workers that are home care workers child care workers higher-end workers who have phd's You know look and frankly a worker in paris or a worker in Liverpool what pulls all these workers together or two things one thing is 15 dollars And it's not about 15 dollars the literal wage of 15 dollars as much as it's about the ambition Of having a wage that you can actually get food off of Pay for your rent off of and get clothes on your back and then the second part of that the idea of a union Not in the traditional sense of i'm a trucker. I need to be in the truckers union I'm a healthcare worker. I should be in the healthcare worker union But in the sense of 64 million about 46 of the workers in the united states of america almost half Make less than 15 dollars an hour. So guess what we're all in the same boat Because we all make less than 15 dollars And if rather we're you know in that 64 million includes union members and non union members Let's just be clear But it doesn't matter because union members get more power when all 64 million are in an organization The workers who are not in a union get more power when all 64 million are in in the same organization And the and raising wages not just for a small nursing home or a small hospital Or et cetera but figuring out how to raise wages statewide Industry-wide city-wide like this broader thought of thinking the broader way of thinking based off what is similar I think that's just a big Take away from this campaign and another thing is simplicity You know the simplicity of the message 15 in the union is so simple It's so simple that it worked And that all these workers were able to get behind it and actually build a movement that People could coalesce around and you know the idea that organizers and staff have to get out the way And let the workers leave You know because that's what happened in new york. That's what's happening in our cities You know, that's why you don't see all of these staff members on here You see angie and you see francis on this webinar And if you come to anything that has to do with the fight for 15 Nine and a half times out of 10 you're going to see workers. So we just had a two day Enrichment virginia where like 10,000 workers marched on the robert e lee statue and Look at the two-day convention who was on the stage You saw workers on the stage running the convention not a staff member in sight Because when you get out the way workers know what they need They know how to talk to each other and they know how to get people in the streets And I will say that and then just the last piece is people in motion create change You can think your way You can think yourself into a headache You can talk yourself into your horse until you take action and figure out how to put people in the streets behind it It's you're not going to create change But what history shows us is that when you can put people in the streets and consistently put people on the streets And people are willing to take risks when they're in the streets You can't create change and I think that that all of those lessons have just been hammered home even more and more Uh here on this campaign and just I just have to add in this last piece Like Angie's looking like here go candle on his speech again But just this last piece is you know these workers are building the 21st century union Which is a union that is extremely inclusive and a union that is built off the idea that we get in the streets And we create change and we do it in the biggest, baddest way we possibly can And I think that they're showing not just here in the united states but around the world that this is what works Not thinking but doing and not thinking small but thinking big keeping it simple and don't think too much. Sometimes you've got to just keep rolling Terrific. Okay. Um I hang on one second. We have a few more questions coming in. We're going to do our best to get to them I know that Angie you have to go to work Right as we finish right right at the hour Uh Yeah, that's uh, well I can leave a little bit after okay. I called Okay. Good. I just want to make sure we're not going to cause any trouble. We have francis just came from work and she's going So uh, they are They are very busy. Um, so we want to watch the time for them and and for candle in the audience for everybody Um, but so it's interesting candle. We have some questions coming in to speed us up I might just rattle some of these questions off. We have questions coming up about the role of um Social media since you're talking about the importance of people in the streets But you guys have a great online presence, too Can you talk about that and then everybody? I'm going to come back and ask you about some of the props that you use when you're in the street some of these cool these weather balloons and these other cool things and and um, and how you try to use those to Really help make your visuals even more Powerful the pictures and video from the campaign but let's start off with the social media piece so um And whoever wants to start off with that what do you um How do you guys think about that about the online piece of this when when you know that ultimately Really getting people out in the streets is so important Well, um, the internet's always global, you know So let's say I share a tweet and it has the hashtag make sure if you always if you are going to tweet about us Use our hashtag 5 for 15 Anyway, so if I use a hashtag And then someone else and I don't know let's say new zealand is sharing our hashtag Then they start slowly people start retweeting and favoriting and then that's how it starts creating You know this little chain where everyone Starts looking at what's going on and our like for example Let's say I'm having an action at my in my city and I use the hashtag then Francis or Kendall they might be in in New York or in St. Louis, but they'll see what's going on because of my hashtag And you know, we always have little clips or we're always sharing something that's going on in our cities Or what we're doing? Yeah, like with social media you have to go where the people are and We're the people on social media So we use the social media to like yeah really get with the people that's where we connect On social media facebook twitter instagram Show me 15 Has something on all of those things facebook Show I mean facebook instagram and twitter. We're On all of those media sites Yeah, and I agree with what Francis and Angie said. I mean I think you know And just to the point about putting people on the streets We actually have figured out how to use social media to put people on the streets and to make sure that You know, we're constantly Figuring out ways to broaden out the camp like people are online these days people get their news online these days people are on all these social media outlets so And then you know, I just think the real thing on this campaign has been the campaign has grown so fast and it is so big That like 320 cities across the us plus 40 countries outside the us The internet is one of the many ways that we can actually wrap our hands around this campaign And make sure that everybody can coordinate so that you can be in china And you can still talk to Angie and la or francis and uh, saint louis or nequasia and north carolina or jarelle in new york All by just staying on your computer and you know when what's happening when and then people are constantly retweeting and Reposting people stuff like Angie said and it just helps with momentum and it helps get the story out further So that people know what's happening on the campaign And how do you make sure that people think supporting you online isn't enough? You said you've gotten really good at getting people to move from learning about it on social media to showing up How do you do that? It's all about what you ask people to do You know is what I was saying, you know, sometimes you ask people to post Uh, are you asked people to you know retweet or whatever case and what we figured out how to do is We figured out a ladder and a way to ask people to actually get into the streets and show their support with their feet Is what I would say on my end Yes, that's about what it is That's that's what it is you um, well me personally I use twitter and I uh When when I when we're having an action here in saint louis. I'm tweeting to everybody. I know I posted on facebook And I'm asking them if if you even if you don't support the movement support me Come out and support what I'm doing in my life support what I'm doing. So That pretty much works Just asking I mean you have to you ask That's what you have to do you have to ask people to Engage in what you're doing Angie did you want to add anything on that or Well, um, I just agree with them, you know, like if I share let's say I share That's one share, you know, and then slowly everybody starts sharing, you know, it's all a matter of Of believing and asking Awesome, I would say I'm going to pull up some of these pictures of um that show some of the um Some of the props Like these giant these weather balloons. Can you all see those on the on the screen the weather balloons and um And these glowing 15 numbers and statues and And this thing like the old carnival thing where you hit the hammer into the bottom and trying to get up to 15 um Can you talk a little bit about when you when you're planning actions? um When you decide to use props and who makes them and how does all that work? Well here in st. Louis, um Um our staff the the staff here normally does Our props so I'm gonna say thank you Emily and annie For our props here in st. Louis. Um, we just build an arch and as the Viewers can see behind me is All kinds of stuff that 15 behind me. We have a real giant 15 That we that we uh anytime that we go out we take the big 15 it goes just about everywhere that we go and um We had a better a balloon for uh one for one strike and um worker use Stessels to to make our sides. We use special stencils to make most of our uh artwork, but Yeah here in st. Louis. We have to thank annie and emily a lot for our uh for our props How about in la annie? Angie, can you hear us? Let's see looks like her screen might have frozen there. Let's see if we can Get that back. Oh there. Angie. Can you hear us now? Okay, Angie. Are you able to hear are you able to hear us? I can hear you now. There we go. Um, can you talk about some of the props you use in la and who who makes them and How do you decide which ones to use? Well, um, most of our props uh as the workers we we do them for example when we do uh the banners We get a projector we project it on the wall and then we put our banner and then we just trace kind of like a stencil And then most of our posters believe it or not. They're made in the car while we're driving to actions And well we reuse them. So that's pretty cool And then while we do the we use the big balloon The purple one and the green one you saw there those are ours. They're pretty cool But they're super heavy. So yeah never again. Am I gonna hold that balloon again? That balloon we usually use it on our big actions, you know in the day of action the day of action Just because there's a lot of people and we're trying to grab people's attention making sure that No matter no matter where people are coming from they're gonna see our balloons and where we are And um, well we have As well, you know like those represent us and we like I said our banners make sure our banners have our hashtag and Well our banners and our posters our posters usually talk about um the issue we're going for at a store You know, like for example, like I said one of our co-workers She didn't get her paid sick days. So we make sure that our posters talked about paid sick days or you know something that Connects to the issue great we've got a couple questions coming in about the role of unions in supporting the fight for 15 and and and How much union becoming unionized is a goal for the workers of the campaign Um, can we all talk about can I have you all talk about that a little bit? Or you know, they have two demands $15 and a union So they're asking for $15 in our pay rate at least and they're asking for the right to be in an organization Uh, you know the word union I think May not mean and look like your grandfather's union But what these workers are really saying is that they want to be a part of an organization That they can create change. I was saying, you know, Angie and Francis to speak for themselves, but overwhelmingly Most workers that I've talked to around the country would already say that they are a part of the union If the definition of a union is workers coming together to create change I would say that the fast food workers are the definition of a union because they have created change on a level that People have not seen In their lifetime, you know, the idea that every democratic candidate would be talking about 15 because fast food workers have been going on strikes The idea that someone like Governor Cuomo would dust off a system like the wage board And figure out how to how to make sure fast food workers get $15 and then double back And push for statewide bill for 15 for everyone, you know, california, you know, there's so many examples Inside and outside the country, but uh, you know, I think that these workers will say that they have a union But if you're talking about in the technical Legal sense of the word then that's what they're fighting for to push McDonald's to give them the right to be in the organization And as far as the role of unions in this movement I mean, there are there's been a huge ally in the movement They're at I would say if you look nationally, you know, Adam was at every table in all these 320 cities We probably have every union in the country involved in the fight for 15 in one way or another Um, and their role is they're they're a strong partner, you know, they put they bring their members out on the strike line Uh, their members are, you know, look, we have union members that make less than $15 and now Workers like the la unified school district there, you know, they went up to 15 You know, you have uh nursing home workers in florida that were making eight or nine dollars who went up to 15 You have all these union members who have figured out how to ride the momentum Of non-union workers in order to get better contracts instead of union workers setting the standards that non-union workers Are trying to rise to now you have non-union workers Creating activity that union members are actually benefiting from and I think that's because of the alliance on the ground It's not about if you're in a union or if you're not it's about if you're part of the 64 million and what these workers have been ever Great. Anyone else want to jump in on that? No from Angie, what about you frances? Oh Thank you. Okay. Um We have a great question about how can people support you? How can People support i'm going to bring up our last slide, which just has a general um info address somebody frances is asking for your twitter hashtag because of um What you were saying about tweeting so, um, what can how can um What's the next step for people who want to connect and support the campaign and and You know, even they might be in different cities from you. What's the best way for people to plug in? Like Kendall said we were all across the country And um, I'm sure there's gonna be an action somewhere near you So you could go to you could go to those or you could just you know simply retweet one over tweets You know read our articles and share them You could you could just join us, you know, you could I mean there's so many ways you could just support us, you know like like You can retweet you could share facebook. Um, you could do our instagrams You could go to our actions But make sure you use our hashtag because you know, if you don't retweet and now use our hashtag then Sorry guys I mean the simplest way for folks to get in contact with us is to google fight for 15 And they'll be able to find the facebook and the twitter and they can always go to www.fightfor15.org To find us also and if You know, and if you're in Any of the major cities in the u.s. Then you can actually find the local fight for 15 campaign by by google and also Or point to Sorry Francis I'm sorry. I'm sorry. This is how you can And help Francis Yes And this is us here in st. Louis the uh and show me 15 Underline Me 15 that's the same rules chapter. Awesome But just to reiterate and people really want to do the most helpful thing Find them out and it's happening in the streets. Like we any support we're going to accept But if people want to know what will really help these workers win and get into the streets Find the action and get in the streets and come out and help terrific we um We're already past our time a little bit. We had a couple questions. We couldn't get to There's one that I wanted to run by you in kind of a short form and then we'll let you go I know that um that fast food workers are Are a huge part of this fight fast food workers like Angie and Francis But that you're also working with home health care workers and child care workers and lots of other folks and someone was asking about Contract workers who might be misclassified like nail salon workers I'm just wondering who who are the people that you're reaching out to now in the campaign or who are reaching out to you Um that that are going to be kind of new growth areas for the movement Everyone fast food workers home care workers child care workers agile professors Tenured professors convenience store workers. I'm looking at Angie and Francis. I'm going to miss somebody We've had Uber drivers reach out to us. We've had construction non union construction workers reach out to us We've had I mean every just about every major industry of low-wage workers in the country Is involved either in every every city we're in or some of the cities There's not really a group of low-wage workers that I can think of off the top of my head That's not already represented somewhere or everywhere about a fight for 15 This is the movement for the 64 million workers in this country who are making less than 15 dollars an hour Which is almost half the workers in this country and they're figuring out everyday ways to get Uh involved in this campaign and I think as you know, we get closer to whatever the next big national activity is that that uh You know the leaders on the campaign figure out I think you're going to be surprised. But you know, frankly, we don't want to let everything out the bag on the weapon Of course, we we want the movement to keep surprising us too. Absolutely Well, Angie and Francis and Kendall. Thank you all so much to our audience Thank you so much to kyle and emily and shannon and other people behind the scenes and my team at stand to help Push the invitation out everybody. Thank you all so much for making this possible Today I have learned a lot and I'm I'm excited to to know your stories and and walk away with some of the lessons and um Yeah, just thank you so much for Angie Francis and Kendall for all it all the time and thought and all your work on this movement Right on Thank you all. Good day to everybody