Hurricane Milton Impacts and Beyond

Challenging Injustice, Advancing Human Rights

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee advances human rights through grassroots collaborations.

← News & Stories

UU Common Read Groups Crucial to Minimum Wage Movement

March 19, 2014

Around the country, groups of UUs are gathering to discuss the plight of restaurant workers and the importance of raising the minimum wage. By engaging with Saru Jayaraman’s Behind the Kitchen Door, the Common Read selected this year by the Unitarian Universalist Association, UU groups are standing in solidarity with workers, choosing compassionate consumption, and gaining the tools to advocate for improved working conditions in restaurants.

In January, UUs in San Antonio, Texas, braved an ice storm to gather and discuss Behind the Kitchen Door together. To provide food for the participants, event organizers budgeted $2.13 each, in recognition of the hourly minimum wage of most tipped workers in the United States.

June Kachtik, the denominational connections chair of First Unitarian Universalist Church in San Antonio, said of the gathering, “We shared personal experiences, went over an action alert . . . and signed the pledge cards. . . . Locally, this union is trying to pass an ordinance in San Antonio that would protect workers’ tips. And, we had fun doing it!”

Join us! Help us bring change so that the hands that feed us can afford to feed themselves.

Organize a book group in your community, and get involved in the movement for justice for restaurant workers. If you have any questions, e-mail mobilization @ uusc.org.

Read This Next