1 | P a g e ‘Fight for $15’ Protests: Prepare for Stepped-Up Pay Demands By Allen Smith 4/15/2015 The “Fight for $15” protests on April 15, 2015, which pressed companies to pay their workers a minimum of $15 per hour, were expected to include 60,000 protesters in 200 cities and 40 countries. The movement has moved beyond just fast-food workers to include retail employees, childcare workers, adjunct professors, home care providers and airport workers. Molita Spaulding, a home care worker from Miami, said, “I’ve dedicated my career to caring for other people. I love my work, and it matters a lot to a lot of families. But my job pays me so little that it’s harder and harder to make ends meet. I stepped up to join the Fight for $15 with my co-workers to speak out for stable, quality home care [and] a wage we can live on. We help people live with dignity. We should be paid enough to pay our own bills.” “HR should care because this is the new union movement,” Michael Lotito, an attorney with Littler in San Francisco, told SHRM Online. “It is more credible with the income inequality theme, the new election rules, e-mail use for employees for union activity, new FLSA [Fair Labor Standards Act] rules coming out, micro units and the most activist pro-union NLRB [National Labor Relations Board] in decades, coupled with the last two years of a very friendly administration toward labor. “The April 15 protests will be worldwide,” he said, continuing with reasons why these particular protests are expected to be so significant: “The recent pay increase announcements [at McDonald’s and Wal-Mart], the April 15 date (for $15), the fact it is on tax day (income inequality) and McDonald’s 60th anniversary suggest this is going to be real big.” Lotito surmised that “Few employees will participate, but the SEIU [Service Employees International Union] will bring together rent-a-protestors to make the media splashes they are known for. Further, the new NLRB election rules become effective on April 14, so I am anticipating election filings before the NLRB too. Could be a significant zoo.” ‘Nothing Is Ever Enough’ Lotito said, “Much of this is hype. But the SEIU is patient.” He added, “Nothing is ever enough for the SEIU, and they are not known for stopping unless their target punches back hard.” While the SEIU-funded Fight for $15 movement took credit for McDonald’s recent raise at its 1,500 restaurants run by company headquarters (though not for employees at its 12,500 franchisees), for example, it simultaneously criticized the raise of just under $10 an hour as a “publicity stunt.” And in talking about Fight for $15 on March 31, 2015, SEIU President Mary Kay Henry said, “I want to share some of the words from leaders who inspired me last night. We heard from courageous workers like Dunkin’ Donuts worker Erica Concepcion, who set the room on fire when she said, ‘I’m fighting for $15 now, but after we win, I’ll be fig ...

1. 1 | P a g e
‘Fight for $15’ Protests: Prepare for Stepped-Up Pay Demands
By Allen Smith
4/15/2015
The “Fight for $15” protests on April 15, 2015, which pressed
companies to pay their workers a
minimum of $15 per hour, were expected to include 60,000
protesters in 200 cities and 40 countries.
The movement has moved beyond just fast-food workers to
include retail employees, childcare
workers, adjunct professors, home care providers and airport
workers.
Molita Spaulding, a home care worker from Miami, said, “I’ve
dedicated my career to caring for other
people. I love my work, and it matters a lot to a lot of families.
But my job pays me so little that it’s
harder and harder to make ends meet. I stepped up to join the
Fight for $15 with my co-workers to
speak out for stable, quality home care [and] a wage we can live
on. We help people live with
dignity. We should be paid enough to pay our own bills.”
“HR should care because this is the new union movement,”
Michael Lotito, an attorney with Littler in
San Francisco, told SHRM Online. “It is more credible with the
income inequality theme, the new

2. election rules, e-mail use for employees for union activity, new
FLSA [Fair Labor Standards Act]
rules coming out, micro units and the most activist pro-union
NLRB [National Labor Relations Board]
in decades, coupled with the last two years of a very friendly
administration toward labor.
“The April 15 protests will be worldwide,” he said, continuing
with reasons why these particular
protests are expected to be so significant: “The recent pay
increase announcements [at McDonald’s
and Wal-Mart], the April 15 date (for $15), the fact it is on tax
day (income inequality) and
McDonald’s 60th anniversary suggest this is going to be real
big.”
Lotito surmised that “Few employees will participate, but the
SEIU [Service Employees International
Union] will bring together rent-a-protestors to make the media
splashes they are known for. Further,
the new NLRB election rules become effective on April 14, so I
am anticipating election filings before
the NLRB too. Could be a significant zoo.”
‘Nothing Is Ever Enough’
Lotito said, “Much of this is hype. But the SEIU is patient.” He
added, “Nothing is ever enough for the
SEIU, and they are not known for stopping unless their target
punches back hard.”
While the SEIU-funded Fight for $15 movement took credit for
McDonald’s recent raise at its 1,500
restaurants run by company headquarters (though not for
employees at its 12,500 franchisees), for

3. example, it simultaneously criticized the raise of just under $10
an hour as a “publicity stunt.”
And in talking about Fight for $15 on March 31, 2015, SEIU
President Mary Kay Henry said, “I want
to share some of the words from leaders who inspired me last
night. We heard from courageous
workers like Dunkin’ Donuts worker Erica Concepcion, who set
the room on fire when she said, ‘I’m
fighting for $15 now, but after we win, I’ll be fighting for $20.’
”
Advice for HR
Lotito remarked that “Most HR professionals have never dealt
with union issues. The vast majority of
companies have ill-defined supervisors who are not trained and
few organizations have done
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vulnerability assessments. The fact that unions have done so
little in 20 years has removed them as
a legitimate threat for most companies. It is much more likely
that an organization has a plan in place
for a natural disaster or for an Internet disruption than a labor
disruption.”
That said, Lotito cautioned, “At the end of the day, as long as
union membership declines, unions
will do anything to survive.”

4. HR should always be aware of “any external group that is trying
to influence their workers, or create
possible business disruptions via protest actions or work
stoppages,” said Michael VanDervort, a
member of the Society for Human Resource Management Labor
Relations Special Expertise Panel.
“The HR function should be preparing their managers,
developing labor response plans, and
providing training and information to managers on labor issues,
especially those related to the
NLRB.”
Don Schroeder, an attorney with Mintz Levin in Boston, said
the $15 figure for the movement
“seemed to come out of thin air, quite frankly.” He added, “I
don’t know what the basis is for it other
than doubling minimum wage.” The federal minimum wage
currently is $7.25 an hour.
Accomplishments
As for Fight for $15’s accomplishments thus far, the movement
is quick to note in its press releases
that Seattle and San Francisco have ordinances in place to
gradually raise the minimum wage to
$15.
Still, Schroeder said that if the goal of the movement is to raise
the minimum wage to $15 an hour, it
has, on the whole, not been successful.
Nor has it increased unionization. Anthony Byergo, an attorney
with Ogletree Deakins in Kansas
City, Mo., said, “Despite the union organizing objectives of the
movement, remarkably few

5. representation petitions have been filed seeking union elections
in the fast-food industry since Fight
for $15 was founded.” However, Byergo added, “HR
professionals should be cognizant of any
support for and participation in Fight for $15 activities among
their own employees, as it is certainly
an early warning sign of future serious union organizing
activity.”
Plus, the movement has had some success in increasing
minimum wages at the state and local
level, “if you believe they’re responsible for that,” Schroeder
said.
The Fight for $15 movement notes in a press release: “Since the
first fast-food strike in 2012, 9
million low-wage workers have gotten raises through local
ballot measures, city and state legislation,
contract negotiations, and employer policy changes—more
workers than are in private-sector unions
in the entire country. The urgent need for solutions to
America’s low-wage crisis is already emerging
as a key issue in the run-up to the 2016 election.”
Allen Smith, J.D., is the manager of workplace law content for
SHRM.
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Cities, States Increasing Minimum Wage, Requiring Paid Leave
By Joanne Deschenaux

6. 8/27/2015
Democrat-backed bills in both the House and the Senate to raise
the federal minimum wage to at
least $12 per hour from the $7.25 current rate and to require
most employers to offer up to seven
days of paid sick leave per year are unlikely to move forward in
the Republican-controlled Congress.
Faced with this legislative gridlock on the federal level,
however, more cities and states are raising
their minimum wages and securing paid sick leave for workers,
the White House said in a report
issued Aug. 18, 2015.
States and Localities Take Action
Since President Barack Obama called for a minimum wage
increase during his State of the Union
remarks back in 2013, 17 states and the District of Columbia
have increased their minimum wage—
including four states where voters approved minimum wage
increases on Election Day in 2014.
Cities and counties have also taken action, with 29 local
jurisdictions including Berkeley, Calif.;
Chicago; Las Cruces, N.M.; and Montgomery County, Md.
raising the wage floor.
“While Congress has stood in the way of addressing these
issues, mayors and governors of both
parties are working with the president to make progress,” the
White House report said.
Rhode Island became the latest state to increase its minimum

7. wage in June when Democratic Gov.
Gina M. Raimondo signed legislation raising the pay floor to
$9.60 per hour. Meanwhile, some cities,
including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, are set to
phase in a $15 minimum wage over the
next few years.
Obama has also looked to raise wages at the federal level,
signing an executive order that requires
contractors to pay their workers at least $10.10 an hour.
Philadelphia and Montgomery County, Md., are among the
localities that have recently enacted paid-
sick-leave laws. Oregon’s Democratic governor, Kate Brown,
signed legislation on June 22, 2015,
requiring most employers to offer 40 hours of paid sick time
annually.
On the federal level, Obama said he is considering a second
executive order mandating at least
seven days of paid sick leave for employees of federal
contractors.
Companies Also Taking Action
The White House noted that a number of companies are acting
on their own to increase their
minimum wage and expand paid leave opportunities. Companies
taking steps to this end include
Wal-Mart, Disney, Gap, TJX Companies, Target, IKEA, Aetna
and Starbucks.
In April, Wal-Mart raised its lowest starting wage to $9 per
hour, with a promise to raise it to $10 by
February 2016.

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And as for paid leave for employees, Microsoft and Netflix are
two companies that recently
announced separate plans to give more time off to eligible
workers who are new parents, the White
House report said.
Joanne Deschenaux, J.D., is SHRM’s senior legal editor.
The Living Wage Rage
Since President Barack Obama called for a minimum wage
increase during his State of the Union
remarks back in 2013, 17 states and the District of Columbia
have increased their minimum wage—
including four states where voters approved minimum wage
increases on Election Day in 2014. Cities
and counties have also taken action, with 29 local jurisdictions
including Berkeley, Calif.; Chicago; Las
Cruces, N.M.; and Montgomery County, Md. raising the wage
floor.
A number of companies are acting on their own to increase their
minimum wage and expand paid leave

9. opportunities. Companies taking steps to this end include Wal-
Mart, Disney, Gap, TJX Companies,
Target, IKEA, Aetna and Starbucks. In April, Wal-Mart raised
its lowest starting wage to $9 per hour,
with a promise to raise it to $10 by February 2016. And as for
paid leave for employees, Microsoft and
Netflix are two companies that recently announced separate
plans to give more time off to eligible
workers who are new parents, the White House report said.
The “Fight for $15” protests on April 15, 2015, which pressed
companies to pay their workers a
minimum of $15 per hour, were expected to include 60,000
protesters in 200 cities and 40 countries.
The movement has moved beyond just fast-food workers to
include retail employees, childcare workers,
adjunct professors, home care providers and airport workers.
While the SEIU-funded “Fight for $15” movement took credit
for McDonald’s recent raise at its 1,500
restaurants run by company headquarters (though not for
employees at its 12,500 franchisees), it
simultaneously criticized the raise of just under $10 an hour as
a “publicity stunt.”
As for Fight for $15’s accomplishments thus far, the movement

10. is quick to note in its press releases that
Seattle and San Francisco have ordinances in place to gradually
raise the minimum wage to $15. The
goal of the movement is to raise the minimum wage to $15 an
hour – it has not been successful, nor has
it increased unionization.
Despite the union organizing objectives of the movement,
remarkably few representation petitions have
been filed seeking union elections in the fast-food industry
since the founding of “Fight for $15”
movement.
HR professionals should be cognizant of any support for and
participation in “Fight for $15” activities
among their own employees, as it is certainly an early warning
sign of future serious union organizing
activity.
Question:
Are you clear where you stand on the debate for raising the
minimum wage?
Share your views.