October 14th National Day of Action Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC-United) One Billion Rising

In today’s economy, families depend on both men and women to make ends meet. Corporations have stacked the deck against us, raking in profits while we struggle with increasing costs and jobs that hardly pay the bills. Women are at the core of the modern economy, but families can’t prosper as long as our laws about work and family are stuck in the past. Our mothers, sisters, and daughters deserve full and fair opportunities to succeed, just like our brothers and sons. It’s time to update our economy to make it work for women and their families, not just for rich corporations. Our families, our economy, and our country depend on it.

Times have changed and we need new rules to give families real opportunities to make ends meet in today’s economy. Women are leading households and working to support families, but the deck is stacked against us – especially women of color and low-income women in jobs that force them to live off tips instead of providing a steady, reliable base wage. Restaurants are the fastest growing industry in the U.S., but they employ the absolute lowest paid workers. Over 70 percent of tipped workers – who have been stuck at $2.13 an hour for more than 20 years – are women. These workers face the highest rates of sexual harassment of any industry because they are completely dependent on customers’ goodwill for their living instead of on fair rules that give them a dependable wage for their work.

While the restaurant industry and its lobbyists are prospering, tipped workers have been left behind for decades struggling to make ends meet and support their families. It’s time to update our economy and laws so they work for everyone, including women in female-dominated industries like the restaurant and service industries. That means getting rid of the subminimum wage for tipped workers and replacing it with One Fair Wage – a real, fair minimum wage – that gives women who work in tipped jobs a chance to earn enough to support their families.

It’s time we tell politicians to pick a side: side with women to win One Fair Wage and end the legalized pay discrimination against tipped workers, or side with the big restaurant chains that want to keep their license to discriminate. Women have a voice when we vote.

Join ROC-United, Eve Ensler (activist and author of the Vagina Monologues) and One Billion Rising in a National Day of Action for One Fair Wage and an end to gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the restaurant industry. 

The action will include a flash mob of dancing servers, worker stories from ROC members, and an opportunity for others to share their stories and experiences in the industry.

Join Us for our One Fair Wage National Day of Action!

 

City Time & Date of Action Location of Action ROC Staff Contact
Berkeley, CA October 14th at 3:00 pm
Berkeley, CA Action
Campanille Esplanade
UC Berkeley Campus
Andrew Sudler[email protected]
Boston, MA October 14th at 12:00 pm 115 Huntington Avenue(Prudential Center, in front of the Cheesecake Factory) Maddie Conway[email protected]
Detroit, MI October 14th at 10:00 am Governor’s Office of Urban and Metropolitan Initiatives, 3044 W. Grand Boulevard, Detroit, MI 48202 Alicia Renee Farris[email protected]
Los Angeles, CA October 14th at 11:00 am 735 S. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA(In front of the Fig at 7th Shopping Plaza) Kathy Hoang[email protected]
New Orleans, LA October 14th at 12:00 pm Riverwalk/AquariumAudubon Aquarium of the Americas, #1 Canal Street Le’Kedra Robertson[email protected]
NYC Event Features Guest Speakers Eve Ensler & Saru Jayaraman
New York City, NY  October 14th at   11:00 am New York City Hall StepsCity Hall Park Andrew Nguyen[email protected]
Philadelphia, PA October 14th at 5:00 pm 227 S. 18th Street(Rittenhouse Square, in front of Parc Restaurant) Calvin Okunoye[email protected]
Washington, DC October 14th at 5:15 pm 1615 H Street NWWashington, DC(in front of the National Chamber of Commerce) Stephanie Roth[email protected]