Support of the Fast Food Industry Workers' Movement Fighting to Win a Living Wage & the Right to Form a Union Without Retaliation

WHEREAS, the promotion of economic justice for all is a cornerstone of the NAACP's mission, and the organization has steadfastly supported efforts to obtain a living wage for all working people, including endorsement of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 and the Executive Order mandating that federal contractors raise their minimum wage to $10.10 an hour; and

WHEREAS, the struggles of working people of color to win just compensation, equal treatment, and the right to form a union without retaliation have long been essential to the advancement of people of color; and

WHEREAS, the four million fast food workers are the largest group of minimum wage workers in the United States, with workers of color disproportionately represented and especially concentrated in the lowest paying jobs; where only ten percent of workers of color hold management positions compared with almost half of the white men who work in fast food industry, further perpetuating the racial wage gap; and

WHEREAS, the Fast Food Worker Movement is a broad multi-racial movement of fast food workers fighting for a living wage and the right to form a union without retaliation as a vehicle to transform the reality of low-wage workers who struggle to survive on poverty wages, with little or no access to benefits or health care, and so are forced to rely on public assistance to provide for their families and who are subject to discrimination, harassment, and wage theft, among other injustices; and

WHEREAS, the movement has continued to grow, with fast food workers in stores in more than 100 cities across the United States went on strike in December of 2013; and

WHEREAS, a national coalition of faith, community, civil rights, labor unions, and worker advocacy organizations have joined together to support the fast food workers' movement and its call for broadly-shared prosperity and an economy that works for all.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People fully support the movement of fast food workers to win a living wage and the right to form a union without retaliation and will stand with workers, and take necessary action to build a better and more equal future for all workers; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that NAACP units actively join approved coalitions within their jurisdiction in support of the fast food workers movement.