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Woman with Three Jobs Eulogized as Face of Low-Wage Worker (8.6) |   | Printable Version of Article |
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Yahoo News
N.J. woman with three jobs eulogized as face of low-wage worker
Reuters
By Barbara Goldberg
September 5, 2014 4:08 PMMaria Fernandes, a New Jersey woman with three part-time jobs who died while sleeping in her car between shifts, was remembered on Friday as much for her generosity as for becoming the face of millions of struggling U.S. low-wage workers.A day after hundreds of U.S. fast-food workers staged protests in some 150 cities in a fight for higher pay, Fernandes was eulogized by family and friends who said their grief was eased by knowing that her death was contributing to a national conversation about raising the minimum wage.Fernandes, 32, died while napping in a parking lot in Elizabeth, New Jersey, on Aug. 25. She was apparently overcome by fumes from a gas can she kept in her car to be sure she wouldn't run out of fuel on her way to her part-time shifts at Dunkin' Donuts stores in three different New Jersey towns."Society has a way of looking down at people who try to make ends meet, who seek above the minimum wage," her friend Rochelle Sylvestre, 24, told mourners. "Maria won that battle. ... Even in death she is bringing about change, and awareness and a movement in the job market."More than a dozen fellow Dunkin' Donuts employees were among the 70 mourners at the Evans-Gordon Funeral Home in Newark...."To go to three jobs, go home to take care of her pets and her friends, where she found time to sleep was in the car or sometimes at home for an hour or two. She was always on her feet," her friend and co-worker Armando Gonzalez said."From what happened with Maria, hopefully the state can see we need to raise the minimum wage so we don't have to kill ourselves to make ends meet," said Gonzalez...The minimum wage in New Jersey is $8.25, above the federal minimum of $7.25 but far below the $15 minimum demanded by fast-food protesters...