MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Monday, February 3, 2020 — 12:00pm ET
Contacts:
(One Billion Rising) Anna Zuccaro | anna(at)unbendablemedia.com
(One Fair Wage) Erin Dennis | erin.dennis(at)berlinrosen.com
MONDAY 12PM: WOMEN RESTAURANT WORKERS & ALLIES PROTEST GOV. CUOMO’S EXCLUSION OF RESTAURANTS FROM TIPPED WORKER EXECUTIVE ACTION
WITH MASS PUBLIC SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING IN NYC
‘Women Workers Rising’ Action By One Fair Wage and One Billion Rising
Will Feature Women Workers, Celebrities, NY Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Performances in Solidarity For One Fair Wage & Safe & Dignified Workplaces
NEW YORK – On Monday, February 3rd, in response to Governor Cuomo’s New Year’s Eve announcement that he would enact One Fair Wage – a full minimum wage with tips on top – for all tipped workers except restaurant workers, women restaurant workers and their allies will stage a mass public self-defense training in front of the Governor’s office in New York City to raise awareness of the problems resulting from the tipped minimum wage exception on restaurant workers, who face the highest levels of sexual harassment in any industry. Recent polling has demonstrated that the vast majority of New York State tipped workers support the One Fair Wage proposal.
The action will demand that restaurant industry workers be included in the One Fair Wage executive action. In New York State, 70% of restaurant workers are women. New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams will be speaking at the event, which is coordinated by One Fair Wage, V-Day/One Billion Rising and the Resistance Revival Chorus, who argue that as long as restaurant workers need to rely on tips to feed their families, they will need to learn to defend themselves from sexual violence in the workplace.
WHAT: MASS PUBLIC SELF-DEFENSE TRAINING BY RESTAURANT WORKERS & ALLIES
WHEN: February 3, 2020, 12:00pm ET
WHERE: Governor Cuomo’s New York City Office – 633 3rd Avenue, New York, NY 10017
FEATURED PARTICIPANTS INCLUDE: New York Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Playwright and Founder of V-Day/One Billion Rising Eve Ensler, members of One Billion Rising, Times Up members and actresses Carmen LoBue and Alysia Reiner, social justice artist/musician Taína Asili, and the Resistance Revival Chorus will be joining One Fair Wage members and allies in demanding One Fair Wage and safe and dignified workplaces for all.
One Fair Wage President Saru Jayaraman explained: “Even though he announced that he would review the subminimum wage in 2017 specifically in order to address sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, Governor Cuomo instead gave One Fair Wage to other tipped workers and excluded restaurant workers – thus leaving them vulnerable to the highest rates of sexual harassment of any industry because of their reliance on tips. At a time that Pres. Trump is taking tipped workers’ federal rights a way, instead of rolling over to the power of the National Restaurant Association, Gov. Cuomo should follow through and enact One Fair Wage for all.”
Eve Ensler of One Billion Rising added: “I am rising on February 3rd to honor and protect restaurant workers and to demand that they receive one fair wage that they so richly deserve and which will help protect them from sexual abuse on the job. Our Women Workers Rising action joins the thousands of One Billion Rising creative resistance actions taking place throughout the US and the world, where women are rising up on the stage, in the streets, and in front of government offices, to demand changes in the policies and culture that sustain violence and inequality. We will rise until the violence stops.”
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