Minimum Wage Workers Walk Out, Rally For $15/Hour
DENVER (CBS4)- Hundreds of low wage workers walked out of their jobs in the Denver metro area on Wednesday. They joined thousands of others across the U.S. to protest the current minimum wage.
Those workers rallied at the Auraria campus in downtown Denver to demand $15 an hour and union representation.
The "Fight for $15" campaign started in 2012 with fast food workers. It has since expanded to home healthcare workers, janitors and others in typically low paying careers.
The organization behind the rallies chose tax day to highlight the fact that while minimum wage workers are on public assistance just to get by, many of the corporations that employ them get major tax breaks.
"There are some weeks where I don't get any days off," said Patrick Ulibarri.
Ulibarri, 25, works three jobs, all in the food service industry.
"Sonic cut my hours so it kind of gives me the opportunity to work at McDonald's," said Ulibarri.
He said he still doesn't make ends meet, "I don't even have enough to be in my own living place."
Ulibarri is just one of those protesting in the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and establish a union to protect workers.
"That way we can actually have a wage that we can support ourselves on," said Ulibarri.
The minimum wage in Colorado is $8.23 an hour. Some believe there could be negative consequences if that wage is increased.
"When you go into a restaurant you'll probably see less service, you'll probably see much higher prices on the food," said Colorado Restaurant Association spokeswoman Carolyn Livingston.
Livingston said a minimum wage hike would end up in job losses and hurting small businesses. She also claims that studies support this theory.
"Those costs cannot be absorbed into a working business easily," said Livingston.
Protesters believe more money to workers would mean more money that would boost the economy. It's a fight they said they won't give up on easily.
"I'm not stopping until there is a change," said Ulibarri.
McDonald's recently made a change to pay corporate workers $1 more an hour than the local minimum wage, but that doesn't include independently owned franchises.
