When the Fight for $15 hosts its ”Day of Action for Worker Justice“ on Thursday, the picket signs might as well have ”SEIU” written all over them in big letters.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been pulling the strings for a $15 minimum wage from the start. According to the SEIU’s federal filings with the Department of Labor (DOL) released this month, the labor union spent roughly $20 million on the Fight for $15 in 2015. That brings the estimated total up to around $70 million since the campaign began in 2012.
And the trail of money suggests anything but a grassroots effort: The SEIU’s fingerprints can be traced from lobbying vehicles known as “worker centers” to pricy political consulting firms.
In New York, the fiercest fighter for $15 is the so-called Mario Cuomo Campaign for Economic Justice (MCCEJ). A closer look reveals MCCEJ is an invention of the politically influential SEIU Local 1199—the two are located in the same Midtown office building. With the help of Local 1199 (and other affiliated unions), the self-proclaimed “coalition of working people“ has reportedly spent $1.72 million on Fight for $15 lobbying in 2015 alone—including the RV and meeting space for one of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent events.
There are countless SEIU offshoots like these.
