At one McDonald’s in Los Angeles, workers blocked the drive-thru for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, about how long prosecutors say a white police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck as he pleaded for air.
In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland and several other California cities, demonstrations were organized by the Service Employees International Union, one of the nation’s largest, whose 1.9 million members include many of the low-wage essential employees who have continued to work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In total, more than 25 demonstrations took part across the country Monday with organizers seeking to highlight the ways in which the pandemic has worsened economic inequality and the dangers essential workers are subjected to.
Members of SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, which represents 400,000 nursing home and home care workers throughout California, protested alongside Black Lives Matter, other unions and social justice groups.
The Los Angeles rally was part of 25-city “Strike for Black Lives” protest.
Groups of activists and unionized workers across the country participated in a walkout on Monday, calling for an end to racism and for more corporate and government support for Black workers.
In LA, the Strike for Black Lives was organized by big labor unions like SEIU, Black Lives Matter LA, the Tenants Union, an alliance of Uber drivers, and others.
The action is organized by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and backed by several social-justice groups and unions whose members work in essential industries that are disproportionately PoC and vulnerable to COVID-19.
“Across the country, people are gaining a new understanding that it is impossible to win economic justice without racial justice. That health care for all, fair immigration policies, and bold action on climate change all require racial justice,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of SEIU.
The Service Employees International Union, which represents 2 million workers in health care, property services and the public sector, announced Thursday that it will throw its grassroots organizing power behind presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential campaign.