Workers at fast food restaurants in seven cities across America are planning to walk off the job Monday to protest what they say are wages that are too low to live on.
The Washington Post reported that the protests are set to take place in New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Flint, Mich. and will involve workers at McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and KFC.
The protesters are calling for wages of $15 per hour, more than double New York's current minimum wage of $7.25.
A network of local community groups, clergy, and unions, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), are backing the strike. In New York City, the protests are being organized by a group called Fast Food Forward, which states on the description of its Twitter account "No one can survive on $7.25."
"A lot of the workers are living in poverty, you know, not being able to afford to put food on the table or take the train to work," Fast Food Forward director Jonathan Westin told CBS New York "The workers are striking over the fact that they can’t continue to maintain their families on the wages they’re being paid in the fast food industry."
Industry representatives say that most fast food restaurants operate on a meager profit margin, making it impossible to increase employee wages.
I fully support this, $7.25 is nothing, I had a job making minimum wage working my ass while in school and I was pissed looking at my paycheck. $15 is a lot.
It shouldn't be $15 by any means. Working in the fast food industry usually means you're uneducated and have no actual skills that employers really desire.
$15/hr means you have skills and can do something average people in the US can't do. Mess
10 should be the basic and waiters working on restaurants with tipping should earn at least 12 not 2.50 and tips shouldn't be obligatory but performance based.
Working in the fast food industry usually means you're uneducated and have no actual skills that employers really desire.
Or maybe it means the economy is so bad that even after getting a college degree you still can't find a better job and are forced into one like this. Don't stereotype the millions of people who work at fast food restaurants.
-
I absolutely support them. A living wage is a very important thing to fight for.
I'm getting 13.88 an hour and I'm just a cashier. If you work as a kitchen hand it's $20 something. I'm from Australia but I knew in the US it was low, but this is just robbing people of money they deserve.
Don't stereotype the millions of people who work at fast food restaurants.
