Fair Wage Wednesday February 5, 2014
Channel: LaborEd Minnesota
Date: 06/02/2014

A weekly event called "Fair Wage Wednesday" is putting the focus on employers who pay and support low wages in Minneapolis. On Wednesday, February 5th, 2014 a small group of workers marched from Target Corporation's downtown headquarters to a large office building, the Plaza Seven Office Tower. They called on Target to end its opposition to an increase in Minnesota's minimum wage. And they urged the management of Plaza Seven to use a cleaning contractor that pays livable wages.

Members of the group attempted to meet with representatives of Target and Plaza Seven, but were rebuffed. So they walked through the skyways singing "We Shall Overcome" and handed out leaflets to hundreds of people who were out on their lunch hours.

"It's time for an end to poverty wages," said Veronica Mendez, an organizer for CTUL, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha/Center for Workers Organized in Struggle. CTUL, a worker center based in Minneapolis, is one of the organizations agitating for an increase in the state minimum wage.

Target is one of the nation's top employers of workers at the minimum wage, according to the National Employment Law Project. The company opposes legislation that would increase Minnesota's minimum wage to $9.50 an hour.