The Fight for Fifteen: The Right Wage for a Working America

(Paperback)

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The fight for a higher minimum wage has become the biggest national labor story in decades. Beginning in November 2012, strikes by fast food workers spread across the country, landing in Seattle in May 2013. Within a year, Seattle had adopted a $15 minimum wagethe highest in the United Stateswithout a bloody political battle.

Combining history, economics, and commonsense political wisdom, The Fight for Fifteen makes a deeply informed case for a national $15/hour minimum wage as the only practical solution to reversing Americas decades-long slide toward becoming a low-wage nation.

Drawing both on new scholarship and on his extensive practical experiences organizing workers and grappling with inequality across the United States, David Rolf, president of SEIU 775which waged the successful Seattle campaignoffers an accessible explanation of middle out economics, an emerging popular economic theory that suggests that the origins of prosperity in capitalist economies lie with workers and consumers, not investors and employers.

A blueprint for a different and hopeful American future, The Fight for Fifteen offers concrete tools, ideas, and inspiration for anyone interested in real change in our lifetimes.

Reviews

Praise for The Fight For Fifteen:
"With intellectual rigor and practical wisdom, David Rolf shows why the fight for a $15-an-hour minimum wage is not just a local battle but a national moral necessityand a cornerstone of a decent society."
Robert B. Reich, Chancellors Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

"Anyone interested in fighting for workers and getting results should read David Rolfs new book on the importance of raising the minimum wage. Few people in this country have the on-the-ground perspective and passion that David has when it comes to increasing wages and giving workers and families the tools they need to succeed."
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA)

Rolf successfully addresses many arguments against higher minimum wages. [T]he book will appeal to anyone looking to know more about the workings of modern-day labor movements and the stories of their members.
Publishers Weekly

"An expert exploration of a provocative blueprint for rescuing the American middle class through the creation of a new living wage. A savvy inside look at the social movement challenging decades of stark economic decline."
Kirkus Reviews

David Rolf shows that raising the minimum wage to $15 is both just and necessary, lest the American dream of middle class prosperity turn into a nightmare of enduring poverty for millions of workers in the bottom half of wage earners.
David Cay Johnston, bestselling author of The Fine Print and Free Lunch, and winner of the Pulitzer Prize

David Rolf has helped put low-wage workers in Seattle at the forefront of a national movement for a $15 minimum wage; his forward thinking helped paved the way for some of the greatest progress toward addressing our nations growing income inequality that weve seen in decades.
Saru Jayaraman, author of Behind The Kitchen Door, co-founder, Restaurant Opportunity Centers United

David Rolf has become the most successful advocate for raising wages in the 21st century. Where others talk, David leads, and his book is an inside look at a campaign that has the potential to make work pay again.
Andy Stern, senior fellow, at Columbia University's Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy; former president of the 2.2 million member SEIU.

David Rolf's first book is a call to action, reminding us that we define what's possible in politics, and that the future of the economy is at stake. If you're interested in what can actually be done about inequality, read this book.
Ai-jen Poo, Director, National Domestic Workers Alliance and author of The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in an Aging America

Praise for David Rolf:
"Over the past fifteen years, no American unionist has organized as many workers, or won them raises as substantial, as Rolf."
The American Prospect

Author Bio

David Rolf is the president of SEIU 775, the fastest-growing union in the Northwest. He has led some of the largest organizing efforts since the 1930s, including the successful organization of 75,000 home care aides in Los Angeles. Rolf lives in Seattle.