Workers from Tucson and  around the country joined voices today to demand for dignified and livable wages. More specifically: for every state to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour, because it is impossible to stay afloat with some of the salaries we gotta deal with.

The Fight for $15 protest in the Old Pueblo gathered about 100 people. It got larger once the march—which started out in the corner of Campbell Avenue and Speedway Boulevard, near the McDonald’s—arrived to the University of Arizona. Today’s rally was a fusion of fast-food workers and adjunct and non-tenure faculty from both the UA and Pima Community College.

Focusing on the fast-food stats, their average salary (in Tucson) is $8.68/hour and, for the most part, they have a 24 hours a week limit to work, which means they make about $10,800 a year. 

Low wages also mean more expenses for the state—getting food stamps costs lots of money, so why not just give people a significant raise?
From a fact sheet emailed to me by a Mariah Quinn, one of the many people who helped organized today’s event:

A recent study by researchers at the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education found that in Arizona, low wages in the fast food industry cost the state $144 million annually in public assistance costs. v The fast food industry costs American taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually because its jobs pay such low wages that 52 percent of fast food workers—even those who work full time— are forced to enroll their families in public assistance programs, compared to 25 percent of the
workforce as a whole.

According to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator, a worker with one child working full time in the Tucson metro area would have to earn $22.14 per hour to meet her family’s basic expenses.

All of this while the CEOs and upper level entities in the hierarchy make hundreds of thousands and millions in revenue.

According to a 2012 study by the National Employment Law Project (NELP), low wage jobs comprised 21% of recession job losses but 58% of recovery job growth, whereas mid wage jobs made up 60% of recession job losses but only 22% of recovery job growth.

The big fast food chains are profitable and have recovered from the recession, reporting higher revenues, fatter operating margins and more cash than before the financial crisis.ix For example, McDonald’s made $5.46 billion in profits in 2012, a 27% increase in profits over 5 years.
It would take a minimum-wage full-time worker more than 930 years to earn as much as the YUM! Brands CEO made in 2012. Meanwhile, Wendy’s paid its CEO nearly as much as it made in profits in 2012. 

Eventually, everyone who makes less than $15 an hour needs to start making more noise. 

Here are some photos I took throughout the march.







This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2015.

I was born and raised in Guatemala City, Guatemala. I moved to Tucson about 10 years ago. Since I was old enough to enjoy reading, I developed an interest in writing, and telling stories through different...

16 replies on “Fight for $15 Protest: Is It Really That Painful to Give Workers a Livable Wage?”

  1. “Is It Really That Painful to Give Workers a Livable Wage? “

    Since your group chose to focus on the fast food industry, the answer to your question is yes.

    You call it unfair. I call it justified.

    I obtained a technical education and gained 20-plus years experience before I made it to a $23/hour wage.

    Why do you want it so easy? Get an education. Get the work experience, which a fast food job does provide, abeit not as technical as an avionics technician, then apply yourself.

    What is it with the youth today that wants everything handed to them on a sterling silver platter with little to no work?

  2. fast food workers are one app away from being obsolete. Sure, keep asking for 15 bucks an hour to push buttons with pictures on them and flip a burger. You will be replaced by technology soon.

  4. I was a trades maintenance specialist for Pima County. I maintained one of the downtown buildings and assisted the mechanics of other buildings when they needed help. I had to preform plumbing, electrical, and HVAC repairs as well as general maintenance jobs. I also had to do all the P.M. work and keep records of it. Each job required a load of paper work that went with it. Many of my jobs such as pump overhauls had to be done on rooftops in the middle of the Summer. I also had to work in hot, dusty, cramped areas. The inside of the dome of old courthouse for one. I was paid 20 dollars an hour for this. It was hard, dirty work that required some smarts and I felt it was a fair wage. !5 dollars an hour to burn my burger or give my order to the guy in the car behind me. I don’t think so.

  5. Are we going to be bullied into paying higher prices or higher taxes? Either way these people think citizenship guarantees an income.

    I don’t want to be France.

    Neither do a majority of the French.

  6. There are entry-level jobs and there are jobs for experienced, educated workers. The purpose of an entry-level job is to give students or young individuals the chance to learn, grow and mature. Once they have learned what the world of work requires and obtain the necessary education it is natural to move up. There is no need to pay more for those who are doing entry level work just because they do not have the ambition to get an education or experience to improve themselves.

  7. I don’t see 100 people, I don’t see minimum wage types in the crowd(don’t ask me what they look like, you know what I mean) and by the way, does anyone at TW make $15/hr?? Also, don’t these same people ever get tired of “protesting”? but then again, I guess it’s a “cool” thing to do nowadays. Scenario: “Megan, instead of going to yoga today, let’s go to the protest at the UofA, afterwards we can have lunch at the organic Mongolian,Swedish, New Guinea fusion food truck on 4th ave. After that we will self medicate with some of this awesome “purple pingasso” weed I got at the dispensary!”

  8. $15 and hour x 15 workers = $75/hour x 8 hours/ day = $1800 labor cost x 7 days = $12600 per week
    5,000 hamburgers @ $ 3.95 x7 days/ week = ( week’s receipts) —– = $19,750 per wk
    gross profit $ 7,150
    cout of that comes heat, light taxes, insurance, the owners pay, (if any) city licenses, and a whole bunch of other fees like cost of food he has to buy to serve.
    So, as you can see. He will close his store. Can’t make it. This is based on over 750 hamburgers/day

  9. If everyone had free Health Insurance, all Americans or legal residents, we would all be better off as a country.

    $15 an hour isn’t the problem. The fast food companies are not honorable and have absolutely no loyalty to the United States. They do not employees there to work 40 hours or more, they can’t make more money unless they take an additional job. Even if they want to work harder (more hours) they can’t.

    All this because they do not want to chip in and share the responsibility of healthcare in our country.

    15 x 24 x 52 = $18 720. That is pre-taxes. Have some empathy for your fellow Americans.

  10. Dear Old Pueblo Independent,

    You wrote in part, ” They do not employees there to work 40 hours or more, they can’t make more money unless they take an additional job.”

    This sentence is an argument why you need to get a decent education and then, maybe then, with some work experience, you might be worth $15/hour.

  11. Work two jobs. Is everybody this stupid and lazy? Where did we go wrong? Government assistance has weakened the gene pool.

    Thank God they’re not yet really 99%. They just want you to think they are.

  13. Fools look at other high minimum wage, high tax countries. In Australia, with similar minimum wages, a trip to fast fool for two with combination meals, equals nearly $20.00. Get educated, get a skill, finish high school, be here legally and get paid better. $15/hr. times 2000 hours per year if full time work equals $30,000/year excluding any overhead costs to businesses. No only chains but mom n pop ones too. Watch the jobs disappear and inflation rise with latest left wing, union driven idiocy.

  14. The protest focused on fast-food workers and UA/PCC adjunct, non-tenure staff. But the demand is that minimum wage be raised to $15/hour for ALL workers. A huge argument is “go to college, get a degree, get a skill.” I went to the UA, have a degree, I’m trilingual and have several other skills, and TRUST ME that does not equal a livable wage.

    I understand the frustration of focusing the protest on the fast-food industry, but the demand is for everyone to get that much-needed raise. Maybe then the demand for food stamps and other government assistance programs would decrease.

    If my generation has to wait to have “20 years experience” to see a livable salary, holy shit we are screwed.

  15. They only care about the people that have money. They can careless for the poor. Minimum wage don’t do nothing for us to live a life that everyone wants to live. Their being picky and only care about their selfs. Put yourself in our shoes and live our life’s!

  16. To all of the people fighting for $15/hr,
    STOP, just because you CHOSE not to get an education does NOT mean you deserve to get paid as someone who did put in the effort to better themselves. I am a single mom of two, I have spent thousands of dollars in education to make $12/hr in medicine. It is NOT fair for you to get, as you call it, a “living wage” if you do not put any effort into your life. Sorry you make minimal money, get a real job not a teenagers job. I know I will get many upset posts, and I could not care less. I now make as much as you burger flippers a month sense I do 3 12hr shifts. So thank you, my rent got rasied $180/month, my childcare got raised 45/day and I now struggle even more to pay my bills while working full time, raising two kids by myself, and going to school full time. So thank you, thank you for being lazy and expecting everything to be handed to you. You people make me sick.

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