Within a few short years, the Fight for $15 has transformed the demand for a massive wage hike for low-wage workers from a pipe dream to the basic standard for a dignified life for workers of any kind.

The campaign has been criticized by some on the labor left of orienting itself more towards public relations stunts than deep worker organizing. But as Jonathan Rosenblum argues, the campaign’s successes in Seattle show how the movement can transform conditions throughout the United States and beyond.

Kevin Brice-Lall interviewed Jonathan Rosenblum, author of Beyond $15: Immigrant Workers, Faith Activists and the Revival of the Labor Movement. Rosenblum was the campaign director of the first successful $15 fight in the country, the SeaTac Airport workers campaign, which he directed for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).