Fast-food workers protest
Demonstrations in hundreds of U. S. cities seek pay hikes,
Fast-food workers and labour organizers marched, waved signs and chanted in cities across the country Thursday amid a push for higher wages.
Organizers say employees planned to forgo work in 100 cities, with rallies set for another 100 cities. But it’s not clear what the actual turnout has been or how many of the participants are workers. By afternoon, disruptions seemed minimal or temporary at the targeted restaurants.
The actions began about a year ago and are spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union, which has spent millions to bankroll local worker groups and organize publicity for the demonstrations. At a time when there’s growing national and international attention on economic disparities, advocacy groups and Democrats are also hoping to build public support to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25. That comes to about $15,000 a year for full-time work.
Protesters are calling for pay of $15 an hour, but the figure is seen more as a rallying point than a nearterm possibility.
In New York City, about 100 protesters blew whistles and beat drums while marching into a McDonald’s at around 6:30 a.m.; one startled customer grabbed his food and fled as they flooded the restaurant, while another didn’t look up from eating and reading amid their chants of “We can’t survive on $7.25!”
In Washington, D.C., about 100 people protested outside a McDonald’s in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum. Only a handful of the protesters said they worked at the restaurant and none was scheduled to work Thursday.
The push for higher pay in fast food faces an uphill battle. The industry competes aggressively on value offerings and companies have warned that they would need to raise prices if wages were hiked. Most fast-food locations are also owned and operated by franchisees, which lets companies such as McDonald’s Corp., Burger King Worldwide Inc. and Yum Brands Inc. say that they don’t control worker pay.
Fast-food workers have historically been seen as difficult to unionize, given the industry’s high turnover rates. But the Service Employees International Union, which represents more than two million workers in health care, janitorial and other industries, has helped put their wages in the spotlight.
The National Restaurant Association, an industry lobbying group, said most protesters were union workers and that “relatively few” restaurant employees have participated in past actions. It called the demonstrations a “campaign engineered by national labour groups.”
McDonald’s said in a statement that it offers employees advancement opportunities, competitive pay and benefits.