As the April 15 climax of the Fight for 15's planned general strike fast approaches, local organizers gathered Tuesday morning at the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida for a press conference coinciding with a New York Times article covering the movement.
The brief function served as a precursor for the general strike, with the reiteration of the themes that campaign has been asserting, particularly on the effect that low wage work has on society at large.
“People take it for granted, people say fast food workers are just high school students,” said Bleu Reynard, a fast food employee and Fight for 15 organizer. “Well, we're not high school students anymore. I work next to someone's aunt, I work next to someone's uncle everyday. It's a struggle. On April 15, I'm going to stand up and fight against all of these corporations that continue to hold us down.”
Given the location of the event, there is little doubt that focus will be on those within the university system that are associated with the movement, from students to adjunct professors to graduate assistants. Mark Castricone, an adjunct professor, explained the effect low wage and unstable work has plagued him despite his two advanced degrees.
“Last year I made less than what a minimum wage worker makes," he said. "The year before I made slightly better but still less than a McDonald's manager would make. I have two advanced degrees and it wouldn't matter if I had a third, I'd still make a pittance. The reason for this is that adjunct professors are being paid next to nothing and receiving little…benefits. I have no health care and no job security. The only difference between what I made last year and what I made this year is a totally arbitrary system of me getting contract work that I can't depend on. … Over half of the classes in this country are taught by the people in my position, and it's not changing. It's getting worse.”
Castricone's goals for adjunct professors within the Fight for 15 movement are year long contracts, healthcare benefits and a better living wage.
“We're trying to grow the American future stronger,” said Castricone. “This isn't going to happen with everyone working for such pittances and such low wages. We can't build a better future for this country and build this economy better without people having disposable income. When necessities are not being met, you can't have disposable income.”
Perhaps the most emotionally striking of the speakers assembled was the speech by child care worker Nadeije Jajoute, who emphatically pointed out the struggle low wage workers have in having to choose between basic necessities due to a minimal paycheck.
“I love children and care for children, and the quality of care for children is important because we help secure their emotional and overall growth and their transition into society," she said. "But how can we better our future if the builders of this country are being oppressed through their wages? We are oppressed when we have to make the decision whether to eat with the five dollars we have or to go to work. That is oppression in itself. When we get a check and the check we have cannot put food on our table but it's a decision to go back to work and maybe it will work out, when we have to wait for an income tax return just to make it past two months. It is sad that I have to pay for my uniform and not eat, or buy a pair of pants to wear to work and not eat or not pay a bill. It is a shame. There is no dignity in eight dollars.”
When April 15th comes, with large numbers expected at St. Petersburg's City Hall and Tampa's Copeland Park among protests throughout the the country, this shout for dignity will only become louder.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2015.