“The time is always right to do what is right.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

On April 4, VOP held a funeral service on the State Capitol grounds in Richmond to mourn the death of the minimum wage increase by the Virginia House of Delegates. VOP’s State Governing Board had decided that when the General Assembly members came back to town for the one-day veto session, they needed to be held accountable for their last minute maneuver that killed a promising minimum wage bill.

A horse drawn wagon, bearing a coffin draped with an American flag, led a procession from Fifth and Broad Streets, followed by pallbearers. Mourners from around the state walked silently and reverently on Broad Street towards the Capitol grounds, with solemn music playing in the background.

As the procession wound through crowded weekday streets, people came out of the local restaurants and stores or watched from bus stops. Several people gave signs of support or thanked the mourners.

At the Bell Tower on the Capitol Grounds, pallbearers removed the draped casket from the wagon and carried it to the service site. Janice “Jay” Johnson, chairperson of the VOP State Governing Board, gave the eulogy. Doris Crouse-May, secretary-treasurer of the Virginia AFL-CIO, shared final words. After the final words, there was a moment of silence. At the conclusion of the service, attendees approached legislators who were entering the state capitol for the veto session to express concern about the action taken on the minimum wage legislation.

Crouse-Mays observed that “minimum wage workers have to work 1 hour and 10 minutes just to buy one gallon of gas and one gallon of milk.”

In her comments, Johnson said, “We need to do more than mourn today, The time is now for us to act to erase the words ‘working poor’ from our vocabulary in this Commonwealth — our own beloved state, our Virginia.”

Citizens attended the service from Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg, Petersburg, Surry County, Richmond, Charlottesville, Abingdon, Roanoke, Augusta County and Shenandoah County.

Over the past year, the Virginia Organizing Project and other organizations throughout Virginia collected more than 36,000 signatures on petitions and garnered more than 180 endorsements from businesses and organizations to urge state legislators to increase the minimum wage.

After the ceremony, Sandra Cook, vice-chairperson of VOP, said, “These funeral services are being held on the 39th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. They mark our continuous struggle for economic justice, as well as mourning the death of the minimum wage increase in Virginia.”