Today Is 'Day of Disruption' -- Workers Rallying For Higher Wages Across Bay Area

BAY AREA, CA – Hundreds of Bay Area workers are participating in multiple rallies across the region today as part of a national Day of Disruption to call for higher wages and more employee rights.

Workers are gathering at San Francisco International Airport's International Terminal, with about 1,500 people expected to attend the noontime rally, according to organizers.

The action is part of a larger effort where fast food workers, airport employees, hospital workers, and other service industry employees have walked off their jobs and are demanding that cities and corporations support union rights and pay their workers at least $15 per hour.

Rallies are happening at nearly 20 major airports and McDonald's restaurants throughout the country, according to organizers.

South Bay resident Francis Ballecer, who works part-time at Mineta San Jose International Airport, joined the SFO rally to demand higher wages for airport employees.

Ballecer said he has asked for more hours at his job but hasn't received them and is having a hard time supporting his kids and his wife, who works two jobs herself.

"I'm only working 25 hours, but with those hours I cannot afford to buy something for my kids," Ballecer said. "I'm getting $12.50 an hour but it's not enough. I live in Silicon Valley and it's really expensive."

Earlier this morning, dozens of people gathered at around 6 a.m. near 98th Avenue and International Boulevard in Oakland, according to organizers.

Some protesters were reportedly blocking traffic at the intersection and Oakland police arrested about 20 people, organizers said.

Later today, child care workers are expected to convene at Oakland City Hall at 5 p.m. during a City Council meeting, where they will urge councilmembers to raise the city's minimum wage.

Organizers say child care workers are being forced out of their profession because of low wages. That in turn affects families' access to quality child care and strips children of learning opportunities before they start kindergarten.

While Oakland's minimum wage is set to rise to $12.86 at the beginning of 2017, organizers say for a full-time minimum wage worker, the annual pay amounts to less than $27,000, which falls short of what families
need to survive in the Bay Area.

California and many Bay Area cities have taken measures recently to slowly increase their minimum wages with hopes of ultimately bringing it to $15 an hour.

Earlier this month, the San Jose City Council unanimously approved raising the minimum wage from the current $10.30 in $1.50 increments starting with $12 on July 1, 2017, $13.50 on Jan. 1, 2018 and ultimately to $15 on Jan. 1, 2019.

In August, the Berkeley City Council approved increasing the city's minimum wage to $13.75 on Oct. 1, 2017, and then to $15 on Oct. 1, 2018.

In July, San Francisco also increased its minimum wage from $12.25 to $13 an hour as part of a series of increases that will see the city's hourly wage climb to $15 by 2018.

In April, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law that will raise the state's hourly minimum wage for most employees to $15 an hour by 2022.

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--Bay City News/Morguefile image