Security officer Daivon Young is heading to Hollywood. But he's not looking for fame. He's looking to rebuild Seattle's middle class by forming a union at Amazon.
"We need change," Daivon says. "We need a voice on the job."
Stand with Daivon & SIS security officers - send a message to the Academy.
Daivon works for Security Industry Specialists (SIS). He's going to Hollywood to protest at the Oscars, where the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also contracts with SIS. The company's clients also include wealthy Silicon Valley tech companies such as Apple and Ebay, who could easily afford to support good, full-time jobs.
When SIS took over security duties at Amazon in July 2012, the company ignored the customary security industry practice of retaining officers, promptly firing more than 200 union officers who had full-time work, regular raises, healthcare (up to 95 percent employer-paid), and paid time off, including up to five sick days, eight holidays, one or two weeks of vacation, and one personal day per year.
Nobody got rich working these jobs. But they did make a living. Now, although SIS pays an otherwise decent hourly wage, workers are struggling. Daivon says he can't make it without a union.
A new father, Daivon doesn't know what his family will do for healthcare or how they will pay for childcare and education. When asked about retirement, Daivon just laughed.
For now, Daivon must rely on the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to put food on the table.
"The WIC support helps," says Daivon. But it doesn't seem right to him that working security officers should have to rely on taxpayers to make ends meet.
"We are protecting the wealth of the nation," he says.
After voters in nearby Sea-Tac passed a referendum to raise the minimum wage to $15, Seattle has become a central focus of our national debate over income inequality.
Daivon, who says he is paid $15.50 an hour, wants to make sure that people don't forget the "union" part of the now-famous demand, "$15 and a union."
The future of his son may depend on it.