“Get up, stand up”

song by Bob Marley & The Wailers & Peter Tosh; check out our full curated playlist here – handpicked jams to keep the joy flowing!

On June 4th, a group of more than 20 Wisconsin workers did just that. These empowered activists led a new movement into the State Capitol, demanding that legislators prioritize all families and working people across the state.
Every parent or caregiver in Wisconsin deserves to have a secure foundation to raise their family. But for too long, the wealthy and powerful few have eroded our workplace protections in order to grow their profits. They’ve also fueled false narratives, hoping we’ll blame our neighbors instead of the wealthy for the problems they create. As a result, thousands of families in communities across the state are exploited by employers and excluded by decision makers.

Over the past several years, we’ve worked in deep partnership with the Milwaukee Area Service and Hospitality Workers Union (MASH), representing 1,150 service and hospitality workers, and Worker Justice Wisconsin (WJW), representing low-wage, non-unionized, immigrant workers in Dane County, to demand a living wage, stronger wage theft laws, and the ability for communities to set their own labor standards. Why stand up and fight together? A few attendees shared:

“Whether $7.25 in 2009 or $15 in 2012 when we started fighting for that, minimum wage hasn’t been a living wage in Wisconsin for too long because politicians haven’t made this a priority. We need all workers in all jobs to be paid a living wage because all of our labor has dignity.”

“Everything around us has gone up in price, and I don’t know how long since the minimum wage has been increased, but it’s incredible that we are expected to be able to survive on these wages, when in the world everything else has only gotten more expensive.”

The culmination of this work was our June 4th Worker Power Day at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Workers spent the day meeting with their legislators to talk about their experience with wage theft and low labor standards. The response—both from workers and legislators—has been positive!

“Even though we all live very different lives, we all face similar struggles. The more that we recognize that and band together to fight for those rights, I think the greater chance of success that we’ll have.”

These meetings helped workers and coalition partners develop stronger relationships with key legislators. We continue to push for legislation addressing wage theft and minimum wage reform and deepen our connections to legislators.

This Labor Day, legislators introduced a package of bills that would restore basic worker protections and strengthen laws aimed to combat misclassification, one of the primary drivers of wage theft.

Kids Forward was honored to co-plan and facilitate this event. Many workers took the day off of work, got up early to strategize at the Kids Forward office at 9 am to stand up for their rights in front of the state legislature. We provided lunch and Worker Justice Wisconsin provided translation, making this event as accessible as possible for the workers who took time out of their busy schedule to fight for themselves and their colleagues.