Thursday night is a big night for both political parties in New York City, with the Democratic presidential candidates staging a presidential debate in Brooklyn and the Republican candidates appearing at a black-tie fundraiser at the New York Hilton.<\/p>\n
But before they get to their big nights, the candidates will have to get through the big day planned by the Fight for $15 movement, which is staging major demonstrations and strikes in New York, Washington and hundreds of other cities around the country.<\/p>\n
In Manhattan, marchers started gathering Thursday morning at the Times Square McDonald\u2019s and planned a \u201cdie-in\u201d at a McDonald\u2019s in Brooklyn. The protests are expected to culminate in an afternoon march that would end at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where all three of the major Republican candidates are scheduled to appear.<\/p>\n
In Washington, a \u201cmassive strike\u201d was scheduled at the U.S. Department of Labor, where the demand is for presidential candidates to pledge to issue a \u201cmodel employer\u201d executive order \u2013 also knows as the $15 and a union executive order\u201d \u2013 if they enter the White House. So far, one of the presidential candidates \u2013 Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders \u2013 has agreed to the pledge. The other Democrat in the race, Hillary Clinton, has not.<\/p>\n
The Huffington Post reported Wednesday<\/a> that the Congressional Progressive Caucus\u2019 leadership PAC, the Progressive Action PAC, secured the commitment from Sanders in response to a letter<\/a> addressed to all of the presidential candidates.<\/p>\n The Huffington Post quotes Warren Gunnels, spokesperson for the Sanders campaign, as saying, \u201cYes, Senator Sanders is proud to commit to this \u2026 As president, Sen. Sanders looks forward to working with the Progressive Caucus to make this executive order a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n