About a hundred people rallied for a fifteen dollar minimum wage outside of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Tuesday. The demonstration in Cleveland was part of a national, union-organized day of action.
The Service Employees International Union organized rallies in Cleveland and other cities across the country. SEIU already represents city workers at Cleveland Hopkins and outside, near the arrivals area, airport employee and SEIU organizer Sandra Ellington says she’s out to support lower wage workers.
“They’re not doing it by themselves, they’re doing it with other people who do have unions, and that’s one of the best things in the world to say, hey, I’ve been there. I’ve been in a non-union, worked for a company, worked there for two years and only got a nickel, you understand what I’m saying? And if the boss don’t like you, you don’t get promoted," said Ellington.
A separate chapter of SEIU spearheaded a campaign for a fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage in Cleveland earlier this year. That measure goes to the ballot in a special election on May 2.