‘Strike for Black Lives’ advocates for equity
Workers and supporters shut down the Mcdonald’s at 2073 Union Ave. Monday, part of the nationwide Strike for Black Lives.
The group advocated for racial equity, for the minimum wage to be increased to $15 an hour and for the right to unionize.
“We work, we sweat, put $15 on our checks,” they chanted.
Nationwide, the strike was supported by the Movement for Black Lives, Fight for $15, the Poor People’s Campaign and the Service Employees International Union.
The strike was expected to take place in more than 25 cities, from Los Angeles to Boston.
In Memphis, the group also briefly shut down a lane of Union Avenue.
Tiffany Lowe, a leader in the Fight for $15 movement, told those gathered how she makes just $7.85 an hour at her job at KFC.
She can’t afford her own place to live, struggles to pay for gas and to help with utilities. She also struggles to pay for her children’s necessities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no hazard pay, she said.
“It’s really hard, especially with COVID going on it gives me anxiety, the fear that my kids will get sick, that I might go to work and come home and not even know that I’m sick but get my kids sick,” Lowe said. “I’m here for the cause. I’m here because Black lives matter. We have to let them know that Black lives do matter and put an end to this . ... We need hazard pay, paid sick leave, give us the $15 most importantly, and union rights.”
Later in the afternoon, the group planned to protest outside the AT&T
Call Center at Sycamore View Road and Summer Avenue.
Regina Clarke, an organizer with the Poor People’s Campaign, said those gathered stood up for people who need to go to work every day at low-wage jobs to feed their families.
“It is disproportionately affecting Black and brown people,” Clarke said. “Today we stood up for those fast food workers who can’t walk away from their jobs because their livelihoods depend on it, and for those who have been impacted by police brutality.”