The “Fight For 15” movement rallied in Rockford again this week as the campaign marked its second anniversary. “We’ve been fighting and we’ve been doing whatever it takes to try and get a living wage,” said local spokesman Denzel Baldwin.
The rally begin at the McDonalds on Auburn Street and migrated to the Unitarian Universalist Church in Rockford. It included workers from industries other than fast-food. “This particular protest we are actually celebrating the Wal-Mart workers and home-care workers.” Baldwin said, “They are joining our campaign.”
Since 2012, the organization has been working to raise the state minimum wage to $15 per hour. Baldwin says the recent Chicago City Council vote to raise minimum wages to $13 shows “everybody in life wants the same thing and that’s to live a better life.”
The organization claims this was be its largest “walk-out” protest ever, drawing in fast-food workers from neighboring cities like Sterling and Dixon and even reaching communities as far away as Peoria.