23 arrested, McDonald’s closes amid labor protest
Union-backed ‘Fight for $15’ rally ends peacefully
Twenty-three people were arrested Wednesday outside a Milwaukee McDonald’s restaurant as they blocked traffic on West North Avenue in a protest seeking a fast-food-workers union and a $15-an-hour minimum wage.
The arrests — which the protesters clearly planned — came after a larger group of about 100 people forced the McDonald’s at 920 W. North Ave. to close shortly before noon. The action was part of a stepped-up, nationwide effort by the union-backed “Fight for $15” campaign.
Both the protesters and the police acted with restraint. As dozens of cellphone cameras recorded the action, those arrested submitted willingly. Police, meanwhile, first asked those sitting in the crosswalk at North Ninth Street to leave. A few did. Those who refused were helped to their feet by officers, handcuffed and led to waiting squads.
Twenty-two of the protesters were arrested for blocking traffic, a police spokeswoman said. She said one person was arrested for disorderly conduct.
The protest appeared to be well-organized, with arrests intended as part of a broader strategy to call attention to the demands for a union and higher pay.
A larger group of about 100 earlier had gathered in front of the entrance to the McDonald’s, which closed as the protesters marched to the restaurant about 11:45 a.m. The restaurant at first tried to continue drive-through service, but the group blocked the lane.
Police arrived shortly afterward, but made no arrests on the restaurant grounds. After helping a motorist back out of the drive-through, where she had been blocked in, the officers approached one of the protest organizers.
“The man has closed it down,” a ser- geant said, referring to the restaurant management. “You guys are peaceful enough. We’re good.”
The officers then left. About 30 minutes later, the protesters moved onto North Avenue, blocking traffic for about half an hour and sparking the 23 arrests.
The McDonald’s restaurant reopened by mid-afternoon Wednesday.
“We need more pay to be able to live, afford the things we need,” Jennifer Berry, who was among those arrested, said earlier.
Berry, 34, said she has worked at a Milwaukeearea McDonald’s for nearly a year and a half. Now a crew trainer, she said she started at $9 an hour and now makes $9.65.
Berry said she has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from American InterContinental University, a for-profit online school, and has stayed at McDonald’s in hopes of entering management.
“I’m just praying and hoping for a change to come so the minimum wage can go up so I can be able to afford the things I need, then live out the dream of being a manager,” Berry said.
Also among the protesters was Solo Littlejohn, a Wendy’s employee in Kenosha who has been active in the Fight for $15 effort. Littlejohn said he has worked at Wendy’s for two years, with his pay rising from $8.25 an hour to $8.75.
“We’re demanding a higher wage, we’re demanding union rights,” he said. “It’s 2018, and honestly I can’t think of a job that shouldn’t start at $15 or more.”
He said fast-food companies “have more than enough money to pay the workers when the CEOs of these corporations, McDonald’s for example, the CEO makes $10,000 an hour.”
McDonald’s Corp. CEO Stephen Easterbrook received $21,761,052 in total compensation in 2017, the great majority of it in stock awards and other nonsalary compensation, according to the firm’s annual report to securities regulators.
That would be $10,400 an hour — if Easterbrook worked 40 hours a week for the entire year, a doubtful work schedule for the CEO of a company that has 235,000 employees and took in $22.8 billion in revenue in 2017.
Many McDonald’s restaurants, meanwhile, are owned not by the company but by franchisees, hampering efforts to organize a union that would represent employees across the chain. The union-backed Fight for $15 effort wants to see such organizing allowed.
The Milwaukee protest came a day after a similar action in Detroit resulted in 17 people being arrested. In Flint, Michigan, meanwhile, a pickup truck ran into a group of protesters, apparently unintentionally, sending eight to the hospital.
The Milwaukee protest also came one day after Amazon’s announcement that it will increase its minimum wage on Nov. 1 to $15 for all U.S. full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees, including temps hired by agencies. That includes employees at Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired for $13.7 billion in June 2017.
Amazon has more than 250,000 Amazon employees, and plans to hire more than 100,000 seasonal employees this holiday season.