Bettie Douglas is 61 years old and has worked at McDonald’s in St. Louis for 13 years.
The only raises she's received in all her time working for the same company has been through a minimum wage increase.
The last increase was after city leaders voted for a $10 minimum wage. She was making $7.25 at the time and struggling to make ends meet and helping to raise two sons on her own. You can imagine how important that raise was.
However, state lawmakers didn’t think she and her coworkers deserved a raise. So they took it away from them.
So she joined workers in the Fight for $15 and they marched and protested until some of their bosses, including her own, decided to keep their $10 raise.
Ten dollars though, still isn’t enough. She can’t afford to buy a car and has to walk eight blocks to and from the bus stop to get to work every day.
McDonald’s brags about offering jobs to older employees like herself, yet they can’t pay them enough for her to even afford a new refrigerator after hers broke, let alone afford to save up for retirement.
We all deserve a living wage— no matter our background, race or age.
We want to hear leaders and candidates talk about their support for workers and our right to get union rights. It’s only through union rights that we’ll ensure a seat at the table with companies like McDonald’s to ensure we get paid fairly, get benefits and fair treatment at work.
We’re all just one paycheck away from being homeless and no one in America should live like that.
“We’re fighting for an America where politicians listen to working people instead of powerful corporations, and where everyone who works hard can earn fair wages that only go up, and never go down.” —Bettie Douglas
We need every presidential candidate to put workers first. We’re here and we’re listening. We hope this can be a two-way conversation.
She's seen what workers can do when they join together to fight for their rights. This is only the beginning and we’ll keep marching, striking and doing whatever it takes until we get a living wage and union rights.
Show your support for working people like Bettie and take action now! Tell McDonald’s to stop paying poverty wages and exploiting its workers. Don't forget to tweet you representative to #RaiseTheWage.
