By Aaron Miller-
Labour unions and social and racial justice organisations in 12 U.S from New York City to Los Angeles are arranging further black lives matters protests seeking just treatment for minority races
Where work stoppages are not possible for a full day, participants will either picket during a lunch break or observe moments of silence to honour Black lives lost to police violence, The Eye Of Media.Com has heard.
Fast-food, nursing home, rideshare and other workers will rally outside corporations including McDonald’s to highlight racial inequity. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Movement for Black Lives are also involved in the action.
“We are … building a country where Black lives matter in every aspect of society, including in the workplace,” organisers told the Associated Press.
“The Strike for Black Lives is a moment of reckoning for corporations that have long ignored the concerns of their Black workforce and denied them better working conditions, living wages and healthcare,” said Henderson, who is an organiser with the Movement for Black Lives.
In Missouri, striking workers will gather at the McDonald’s in Ferguson before marching to the memorial for Michael Brown, who was killed by police in 2014.
Nursing Home Workers
Fast-food workers in Detroit plan to rally with nursing home workers “to call out the industry’s failure to protect its largely Black workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic and respect workers for the essential work they perform” per SEIU’s statement.
In Minneapolis, nursing home workers will participate in a caravan that will include a stop at the airport, “where they’ll be joined in protest by airport workers including wheelchair attendants and cabin cleaners who are demanding $15/hr and a just and safe plan to bring people back into public and travel spaces,” the statement said.
Strikers include essential key workers nursing home employees, janitors and delivery men and women. Fast food, ride-share and airport workers are also expected to take part in planned events.
Organisers have set 12 noon on Monday, workers are expected to take a knee for about eight minutes, the amount of time prosecutors say white police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee on George Floyd’s neck before Floyd died.
On Saturday, New York City’s Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower was vandalised for the second time in 24 hours on Saturday, and the third time in the last week. Two women were arrested on Saturday afternoon for vandalising the mural.
Comprehensive Action
Strikers are calling for comprehensive action by corporations and government to confront systemic racism and economic inequality that limits mobility and the professional advancement for countless Black and Hispanic workers, who make up a disproportionate number of those earning less than a living wage.
Organisers are in particular calling on corporate leaders and elected government officials to use executive and legislative power to guarantee the professional progress of people of all races. That demand includes raising wages and allowing workers to unionise to negotiate better health care, sick leave and child care support.
In Manhattan, essential workers will gather outside of the Trump International Hotel to demand the Senate and president Donald Trump pass and sign the HEROES Act.
The House-passed legislation provides protective equipment, essential pay and extended unemployment benefits to workers who have not had the option of working from home during the coronavirus pandemic.
Organisers said New York Sen. Chuck Schumer is expected to rally with workers.