Braving a brief storm that blew through Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, more than 3,500 1199SEIU members and supporters rallied on May 10 to end poverty pay at Johns Hopkins Hospital, which is touted as the number one hospital in the United States. The Mother’s March and Rally for Justice was energized by busloads of 1199 members from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts and was a strong show of support for 2,000 members at Hopkins, who have been in contract talks for more than two months. In the negotiations, the union’s main message is that Hopkins pay is so low that many workers must rely on food stamps or Medicaid to get by.The latest union proposal will lift pay immediately to $15 an hour for all those with at least 15 years of experience, and guarantee those with less seniority at least $14 an hour by the end of a four-year contract. Right now, 70 percent of Hopkins caregivers make less than the $14.92 hourly wage that qualifies a single parent and child for food stamps."This is a fight for workers not only here in Baltimore, in Maryland, in the region, but workers in this country—and workers around the world," said actor and activist Danny Glover from the stage, as he faced a sea of people covered in yellow rain ponchos.Evoking the names of other well-known artists and activists who have stood up for working people, Glover reminded the crowd that 45 years ago Coretta Scott King came to Baltimore to help Hopkins workers establish their union.“We’re going to march on Hopkins, block by block, from city neighborhood to city neighborhood,” said Wendell Pierce, best known for his roles on “The Wire,” a television series based in Baltimore, and “Treme.” “And we’ll shut it down unless we get the wages that we deserve.”Several Hopkins workers spoke, some of them featured in local and national advertising on radio and online publications, including The New York Times, Crains, The Baltimore Sun and the campaign website, HardshipAtHopkins.org. When TV cameras showed up to cover the rally, these same members were ready to tell their story."I'm in a homeless shelter and I can't leave because I don't have enough money to move out," Simone Hicks, a floor technician at Hopkins, told a local ABC affiliate. The noon rally at McKeldin Square also featured Hopkins doctors and students, clergy and nurses, who melded the issues of economic justice and public health, which is a Hopkins mandate included in its mission. A local band, GQ, played old school rhythm and blues throughout. Then the massive crowd marched a few blocks to Westshore Park, where there was a Family Fun Day Event with free food and activities for children, such as face painting and hula hoops. Franklin Stephen, a carpenter at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, NY for 19 years, got up extra early to ready nine children, his wife and two grandchildren for the trip to Baltimore. “I felt strongly that we had to be here—I believe in supporting families,” said Stephen, a union delegate. “I believe we all need good wages and benefits. I heard this story and I said that we had to go down there to support these families in Baltimore. I make $26 an hour and that’s hard to get by on, so when I heard about people making $10 an hour I know that just won’t cut it these days. “As 1199ers, we have to go anywhere and do anything and say ‘NO!’ he added. “We have to fight this kind of outrage. It’s a slap in the face to working people.” Media Coverage Hopkins Workers Rallying For Better Pay Bring Star Power To Baltimore, WJZ-CBS Baltimore Hopkins workers rally for higher pay, WMAE-ABC2 Baltimore Johns Hopkins union workers rally for higher pay, WBAL-TV NBC Baltimore Thousands gather to protest pay at Hopkins Hospital, The Baltimore Sun Johns Hopkins workers rally for higher pay in MD, The Washington Post Johns Hopkins workers rally, want higher pay, WJLA-TV ABC Washington, D.C. Hollywood joins hospital workers to press Johns Hopkins to “pay a living wage", Baltimore Brew Cory Syms - John Hopkins (Wage Rally)- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/thousands_of_1199ers_tell_johns_hopkins_end_poverty_p