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Fight for $15 Advocates March Through Rochester

Veronica Volk
/
WXXI

Despite the rain and cold, advocates of the Fight for $15 movement gathered in Downtown Rochester on Tuesday night. Toting umbrellas, decked out in parkas and galoshes, they joined others across the country rallying for increased wages and a right to organize for fast food workers. 

Over fifty people huddled in the shadow of the Abraham Lincoln monument at Washington Square Park, listening to workers and labor activists shout their testimony and rhetoric through a megaphone.

Credit Veronica Volk / WXXI
/
WXXI

This summer, the grassroots movement saw a major victory when the state wage board recommended a pay raise for fast food workers to $15 an hour over the next few years.

But Erika Peterson, who works at Wendy's, says it's not enough, and they're still fighting through strikes and protests.

"It's crazy how people can't survive on the minimum wage they're giving us, while these CEOs are making so much money. It's hard."

After a rally, the group marched north, headed for City Hall, chanting, "Hold the burgers, hold the fries. Want our wages supersized."

Veronica Volk is a senior editor and producer for WXXI News.