Fast Food Workers To Stage One Day Strike In 100 Cities
By aaroncynic in News on Dec 5, 2013 3:15PM
Another wave of strikes from fast food workers will hit 100 cities today, with labor organizations and workers taking to the streets again to demand better wages and an opportunity to unionize without retaliation. In addition to large cities that have seen strikes previously like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, The New York Times reports cities like Charleston, Pittsburgh and Providence will also see walkouts from low wage workers.
The Fight For 15 campaign, backed by the Service Employees International Union and dozens of community groups, plans to picket at several locations in Chicago, including McDonald’s, Walgreens and Macy’s in the loop as well as a McDonald’s on the South side and a Wendy’s on the North side. Two such other large national one-day strikes have taken place this year in April and August.
Walkouts began early this morning in places like Raleigh, North Carolina. “It's kind of hard to build a future if you don't know what it's going to bring you, Pamela Powell told WNCN. According to the station, Powell is a worker making $9 an hour. “Next week. You don't know what's going on next week. It's kind of hard. So that's like a big struggle for me.” According to organizers, hundreds of workers and their supporters in Chicago began picketing the McDonald’s on Chicago and Damen at 6:00 AM and plan to be walking the line at loop locations at 8:00.
Organizers behind the strikes are calling for a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right for workers to be able to unionize without fear of retaliation. According to a press release from the Fight For 15 campaign, the Chicago metro area has more than 275,000 low wage fast food and retail workers. A recent study shows front line fast food workers only make $8.69 an hour with only 13 percent receiving health benefits. According to strike organizers, the living wage calculator, developed by a professor at MIT, shows an adult with one child in Chicago would need to make $20.86 an hour just to make ends meet.