Hillary Clinton said recently she supports a $15 minimum wage during a meeting with Service Employees International Union (SEIU) workers, a union that did not endorse her during her 2008 presidential run.
According to a
Politico report, Clinton called into a conference of 1,300 workers representing the SEIU on Sunday. The union backed President Barack Obama during his successful re-election bid in 2008.
The SEIU has been protesting outside McDonald's locations across the country, and Clinton said she would support their cause of asking for a minimum wage hike.
"All of you should not have to march in the streets to get a living wage," Clinton said, reports Politico. "But thank you for marching … We need you out there."
"Every worker in every state and every city deserves a fair wage and a real voice on the job," Clinton added. "I hope that every one of you will continue to raise your voice until we get all working Americans a better deal. I want to be your champion. I want to fight with you every day."
The current minimum wage is $7.25, and the Obama administration has supported an increase to as high as $12 an hour.
A new push by unions, called the "Fight for $15," is trying to more than double the minimum rate employers must pay their workers.
But even unions admit that a $15 minimum wage will slash American jobs.
Clinton's backing of the SEIU's message is significant as she pushes forward with her presidential campaign. She is among a small group of Democrats in the race and is the
preferred candidate on the left in national polls.
Other polls, however, show her lead slipping in the wake of several scandals that have threatened to derail her campaign before it picks up steam.
Last week,
Clinton reached out to another union — the American Federation of Teachers — in a likely effort to gain its support.
"The most important and impactful thing we can do for our public schools is to recruit, support and retain the highest quality educators," Clinton said, according to BuzzFeed. "It is just dead wrong to make teachers the scapegoats for all of society's problems. Where I come from, teachers are the solution. And I strongly believe that unions are part of the solution, too."
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