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East County News Service
November 25, 2014 (San Diego) - On Monday, City Councilmember Marti Emerald and Rabbi Laurie Coskey cooked and delivered a Thanksgiving meal to fast-food worker Nicolas Cervantes and his family.
Cervantes called the gift “a blessing for my family,” said Cervantes.
The Burger King employee earns $9 per hour and helps provide for his younger siblings. When his father was deported last year, the family couldn’t afford rent and had to move into the living room of a family friend.
Councilwoman Emerald said, “This is the least we can do for people who work so hard for so little. We think that everybody should be able to celebrate holidays with their families. It takes courage to live in a world that is so expensive with so little money in your pocket and such difficult decisions to make every day, especially during the holidays.”
Rabbi Laurie Coskey, of the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice, stated “At Thanksgiving, it’s unconscionable that people who prepare and serve food for others cannot afford a holiday meal for themselves and their families! That’s what the fight for $15 is all about!”
Cervantes is among thousands of fast-food workers nationally who are advocating for $15 an hour and the right to collectively bargain. He said, “When we win a higher wage and the right to a union, we will be in a better position to pay our bills and provide for our families.”
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