Amendment 2—also referred to as the Fair Wage Amendment—would create a $15 minimum wage for Florida by 2026, beginning with an initial minimum wage increase to $10 on September 30, 2021.
Florida’s minimum wage currently sits at a mere $8.56 an hour. With the passage of this amendment, Florida’s minimum wage would continue to increase in $1 increments, reaching $15 by September 2026. After that, it would tack into inflation. Florida is the only state nationwide that is pursuing a $15 minimum wage initiative ballot measure in 2020.
McDonald’s currently sits on the board of the Nation Restaurant Association, which has been the biggest contributor to the Save Florida Jobs PAC, whih opposes Amendment 2, thus demonstrating very clearly which side the franchise is on in Florida’s fight for a $15 minimum wage.
In Lakeland, three Black McDonald’s crew members filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against their corporate-owned franchise in July, alleging a racially hostile work environment and worker retaliation after speaking up about the toxicity in their workplace. These crew members—Faith Booker, Monica Scott, and Augusta Moody—joined a nationwide Strike for Black Lives action on July 20 by organizing their own walk-out at their workplace at 5525 Walt Loop, with support from several Florida for $15 coalition members. Nationwide, McDonald’s was also recently sued by over 50 Black former franchisees for racial discrimination.
Thursday’s car caravan and walk-out was primarily organized by Florida’s chapter of Fight for $15, and McDonald’s workers like Gail Rogers, a 60-year old leader in the new coalition who walked off her job on Thursday to protest unsafe working conditions and to uplift Florida’s Amendment 2.
“The income that I'm getting now is not enough to support me in my rent, or my car insurance and health,” Rogers told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “It’s a struggle for me and for my other co-workers that I speak up for.”
Rogers, who is Black, said she hoped that Black Lives Matter protestors who have been marching on the streets in Tampa will also vote yes on Amendment 2, alluding to the fact that raising the minimum wage for Florida residents fits within the broader movement for racial and economic justice. “We need everybody to go out and be serious about voting for Amendment 2,” Rogers said.
The political committee Fight for $15 estimates that the amendment’s passage would uplift hundreds of thousands of working individuals and their families at a time when the coronavirus pandemic, racial and economic inequality, and massive unemployment has only widened gaps between the very richest in the country (side-eyeing you, Jeff Bezos) and everyone else—particularly Black and brown communities.
According to Hillsborough County’s latest Health and Equity report, over 20% of Black and Hispanic residents in the county live in poverty. Forty percent are food-insecure—meaning they lack consistent access to all necessary food groups—and the annual median income for Black residents is nearly $20,000 less than that of white residents.
Thursday’s demonstration in Tampa was the inaugural event in a series of statewide demonstrations planned for Labor Day weekend by the grassroots Florida for $15 coalition, which officially launched on Wednesday. The coalition is composed of various labor, racial justice, political, and social justice organizations across the state committed to advancing the fight for a living wage for all Florida workers.
“Florida essential workers including fast-food, hospital, janitorial, airport, higher education, farm, and nursing home workers are putting our LIVES on the line every single day,” the Florida for $15 website reads. “We are risking it all without enough PPE, sufficient sick days or other protections, all for less than $15/hr. We report to work even as we watch co-workers get sick or even die because we can’t miss a paycheck.”
Organizations involved in the coalition include Fight for $15 and a Union Florida; political organizations like Pinellas Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Tampa DSA, Organize Florida, Progressive Democrats of America, Common Ground, and Organize Florida; unions such as SEIU Florida and Faculty Florida; the racial justice group Dream Defenders; as well as the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Poor People's Campaign, WeCount!, and Women Vote Florida.
Thursday’s car caravan protest hit up four McDonald’s locations across Tampa, beginning at the McDonald’s on E. 13th Ave. in Ybor City, and winding through franchise locations at 2006 N. 50th St., 6906 N. 56th St., ending at the McDonald’s on 3411 E. Busch Blvd.
All McDonald’s locations on Thursday’s route were given notice of the worker strike and caravan protest upon arrival. About 20 vehicles participated in the car caravan, according to Fight for $15 Florida’s count, all proudly displaying Amendment 2 signs urging Tampa Bay residents to vote yes on Amendment 2 in November.
“I like this shit,” one passerby on foot said, walking through the line of Florida for $15 cars parked just off the property of the McDonald’s on N. 50th Street and Broadway—the caravan’s second stop of the day. A man on a bike similar;y expressed interest, asking organizers standing outside of the line of cars, “Who are you voting for?”
Fight for $15 organizers were approached by Tampa Police Department (TPD) officers at three of the four McDonald’s locations. At the first location, Eugene Harrison, Fight for $15 Florida’s car caravan captain and co-action lead, Jawair Culbreath, provided TPD with their planned caravan route.
TPD officers helped direct the caravan through drive-thrus at two McDonald’s locations, after speaking to Fight for $15 Florida organizers about the nature of the demonstration. At the second McDonald’s location at N. 50th Street and E. Broadway, officers also blocked off traffic as the caravan moved to leave.
The Florida for $15 car caravan drove through all four McDonald’s drive-thrus as planned, honking all of the while to ensure their presence would not—and could not—be ignored. A couple non-participated cars, and one large semi, also honked in solidarity.
Shade Andrews, a 19-year-old crew member at the McDonald’s on E. Busch Boulevard, told CL that she was there in protest today in order to “exercise her right” to highlight Florida’s Amendment 2.
Andrews told CL that the coronavirus pandemic has created a precarious workplace for herself and her co-workers, as the franchise has struggled to provide their crew members with an adequate number of masks.
“The cleaning supplies, too, they didn’t have that many in the beginning. We had to keep begging them to get it,” Andrews said. She did note that employees had been given two small raises—a form of hazard pay—but even so, that raise has still left crew members far short of the $15 living wage workers are voting for come November.
“No essential worker should be making poverty wages, plain and simple,” Rogers said, in a press release obtained by CL on Wednesday, announcing the launch of the Florida for $15 coalition. “On just $9.60 an hour, nearly every dollar I make goes straight to my rent, leaving just pennies for doctors’ bills and other needs. I’m not alone in my struggles and that’s why essential workers throughout Florida are coming together to make our voices heard this November for economic and racial justice, and for $15 an hour.”
The $15 Minimum Wage Initiative has garnered significant financial support from individuals like Orlando attorney, John Morgan, who contributed several million dollars to the political committee, Florida for a Fair Wage, and led the initial effort to get the initiative on the ballot in 2020. Last year, Morgan even traveled up to Tampa to speak on his support for raising the minimum wage.
Fight for $15, the primary organizers of Thursday’s event, first emerged in New York City in 2012, when 200 fast food workers walked off their jobs to demand union rights and a fair wage.
The movement has since spread to over 300 cities across the globe. Kofi Hunt, a long-time St. Pete activist has helped to lead the charge here in Florida as the state chapter’s Political Director.
Florida’s chapter of the Fight for $15 boosts the implementation of a living wage, safe working conditions, and respect for fast food workers, including McDonald’s crew members, who may make anywhere between $9-$11 an hour. Fight for $15 operates in solidarity with other social and racial justice movements, recognizing the need and utility of intersectionality for effective mobilization and for achieving broader goals for justice.
The organization has dedicated numerous hours towards raising awareness of the Fair Wage Amendment, garnering support, and educating Florida voters about why raising the minimum wage is sorely needed within the movement for economic and racial justice.
The $15 Minimum Wage Initiative has received widespread support from progressives—who believe an increase to the state and federal minimum wage is long overdue—but has also drawn criticism from influential, fiscally-conservative lobbying groups like Tallahassee tourism PAC, Save Florida Jobs Inc.
Save Florida Jobs Inc. was launched in January of this year to oppose the passage of the Fair Wage Amendment. In February, the PAC received $50,000 from the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association—which represents many low-wage tourism workers.
In total, Save Florida Jobs has raised $281,320 since the beginning of 2020.
The PAC has also experienced support from Tampa Bay companies, with 23 Restaurants LLC, which owns Yeoman’s Cask & Lion, Ford’s Garage, Tiki Docks, and other Central Florida restaurants, donating $2,500; Dow Sherwood, which owns Village Inn, donating $1,000; Teak in St. Petersburg donating $1,000; And, Keith Overton, CEO of Pioneering Resort Management LLC, donating $1,000.
Last month, small business owners and workers associated with the PAC joined together to launch the ‘Amendment 2 Hurts You’ campaign, predicated upon the notion that the Fair Wage Amendment would “kill jobs, reduce workers’ income and destroy Florida’s economy.”
Many of Florida’s low-wage workers refute this platform, however, as evidenced by the wave of support the statewide Fight for $15 movement has received.
In 2018, for instance, unionized Disney workers—represented by Unite Here Local 362—won their own fight for a $15 living wage through significant organizing and mobilizing efforts. The $15 wage will fully go into effect for unionized Disney workers in 2021, following incremental increases.
Florida’s Amendment 2 will need at least 60% of support across the state to pass in November. The newly formed Florida for 15 coalition plans to mobilize support for the amendment through phone-banking, texting voters, and other digital organizing tactics up to the General Election on November 3.
UPDATED: 09/08/20 4:40 p.m. Updated to clarify that McDonald’s currently sits on the board of the Nation Restaurant Association.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in Sep 10-16, 2020.