Description:

Waging Change weaves together two female-driven movements that reveal an American workers’ struggle hidden in plain sight-- the effort to end the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 for restaurant servers and bartenders and the #MeToo movement's efforts to end sexual harassment. The film shines a spotlight on the challenges faced by restaurant workers, 70% of whom are women, trying to feed themselves and their families on tips and the growing movement to end the tipped minimum wage, spearheaded by Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC-United). That the federal tipped minimum wage has remained at $2.13 an hour since 1991 is due to the power and influence of a trade lobby, the National Restaurant Association, known as the "other NRA". Through the personal stories of workers such as Nataki Rhodes of Chicago, Wardell Harvery of New Orleans and Andrea Velasquez of Detroit, we come to see and experience the everyday challenges these workers face in trying to make ends meet, clarifying the need for One Fair Wage in the 43 states that do not require restaurants to pay their workers minimum wage.

Biography:

Abby Ginzberg, a Peabody award-winning director, has been producing compelling documentaries about race and social justice for over 30 years. Her film, And Then They Came for Us (2017), about the connection between the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WW II and the current Muslim travel ban won a Silver Gavel Award and has played in major cities across the country. It was broadcast on public television in May 2019. She co-produced and co-directed Agents of Change (2016; with Frank Dawson), which premiered at the Pan African Film Festival where it won the Jury and the Audience Awards for Best Feature Documentary. It was broadcast on America Reframed in February 2018 and 2019. Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa won a 2015 Peabody award and has screened at film festivals around the world, winning four audience awards. It was broadcast on public television in July 2016. She was the Consulting Producer on The Barber of Birmingham, which premiered at Sundance in 2011 and was nominated for an Oscar® in the Short Doc category, and was directed by Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin.