Group pushing for $15 per hour minimum wage holds national convention in Richmond Friday-Saturday
Thousands of workers are expected to gather in Richmond on Friday and Saturday to push for a $15 per hour minimum wage — a measure opponents say could backfire and force companies to eliminate jobs and hire fewer lower-skilled people.
The first national Fight for $15 Convention is expected to draw 3,000 people each day to the Greater Richmond Convention Center. About 10,000 people are slated to attend a march down Monument Avenue and a rally at Gen. Robert E. Lee memorial statue, organizers said.
“We chose Richmond because it’s the onetime capital of the Confederacy, and we want to draw links between the way workers are treated today and the racist history of the United States,” said Kendall Fells, national organizer for Fight for $15, an initiative backed by the Service Employees International Union, a labor union with two million members.
“Today, if you look across the country, we are really still fighting against the legacy of slavery and racism in a lot of ways. For example, wages for black and Latino working families are lower due to discrimination in hiring, underfunded schools, a biased criminal justice system,” Fells said.
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