'It's a struggle out here': Workers march for $15 per hour and right to unionize in Milwaukee

Less than a month after employees at Fiserv Forum claimed victory on a tentative agreement to receive $15 per hour, workers took their cause to City Hall.

On Thursday, roughly 100 people marched on City Hall carrying boxes containing thousands of signatures on a petition to ask city officials to bring workers and employers together to achieve a $15-an-hour minimum wage and the opportunity to be part of a union.

Shinita McKinley, a certified nursing assistant, said as a single parent, it’s hard to provide for her four kids.

“Being a nurse, I only get paid $11 per hour and I have to work damn near 60 hours just to make a full paycheck and I’m a part-time worker,” McKinley said. “If I was making $15 an hour, I would be more comfortable and not living paycheck to paycheck. … It’s stressful and that’s why I’m fighting.”

McKinley added that the $4 increase would also help her pay her bills on time.

“It would help me provide more food for my family,” McKinley said. “I have to go to food pantries. It’s a struggle out here.”

Wanda Lavender, organizer with Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Organization, said she has been working in the fast-food industry and is currently a manager.

“Right now, I make $12 an hour as a manager; that’s still not enough for me to take care of my family,” Lavender said, adding that she wants to be able to take care of her children and “not to be on welfare and to be able to provide for my family.”

Daundre Kafka, a security guard at the Deer District, said having a $15 minimum wage allows him to be "empowered" and give back to the community.

“At the Fiserv Forum, we won $15 an hour, good living wages,” Kafka said. “We all came together and got a very powerful union. We want to give that to Milwaukee. We want to make that available to all of the workers in Milwaukee, not just at the Fiserv Forum.”

Kafka added that as housing and rent prices go up, so should wages.

“People want that standard, they want that standard of $15 an hour,” Kafka said. “I’ve watched the economics here in Milwaukee go up recently in the last couple of years, but the minimum wage hasn’t gone up. The cost of living has been going up, but the minimum wage hasn’t gone up.”

In 2016, the Milwaukee County Board approved a $15-per-hour minimum wage for workers including those who work for private companies with a county contract.

That increase is scheduled to go into effect in 2021.

City aldermen listening

The signatures have gotten the attention of a few city officials who were present at the protest.

Ald. Bob Bauman said the City Council is planning to create a commission to take testimony from residents and set policy goals to try to raise the minimum wage in the city and allow workers to unionize.

“My colleagues and I, we’re already working on these issues,” Bauman said, adding that some elected officials are pushing for workers to get $15 per hour regarding new development in the city.

Bauman said there is income inequality in the city. “Milwaukee has that problem in spades.

“Look around, downtown is doing great, neighborhoods along the lakefront are doing great,” Bauman said. “You go into other neighborhoods, not so great.”

Ald. Nikiya Dodd said she has been advocating publicly for an increase in the minimum wage since 2012, especially for the hospitality and service industry.

“It makes no sense that you’re not getting your fair share,” Dodd said to the workers. “Just know that you do have advocates, you do have a voice, you do have those of us who really do want to fight for you.”