Fast food workers from more than a dozen U.S. cities are on strike Friday to demand that the federal minimum be raised to $ 15 an hour.
Leading up to Monday’s holiday honoring U.S. civil rights leader Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr, the group known as Fight for 15 said workers from mega-corporations, including McDonald’s and Starbucks, had been encouraged to leave their jobs. on what would have been King’s 92nd birthday. on January 15.
Karesha Manns, a Memphis McDonald’s employee, said in a statement that she makes $ 10 an hour at her local McDonald’s, “which is not enough to pay the bills or support. [her] family”.
‘I reached out today to continue [the reverend’s] struggle for racial and economic justice in this country, which means that every working person earns a living wage and has a job with dignity, ”the statement said.
Since 2012, the group has been organizing strikes calling for an increase in the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage has stayed at $ 7.25 for over 10 years.
Fight for 15
(@ fightfor15)Fast food workers will go on strike on January 15, on what would be MLK’s 92nd birthday, to demand $ 15 / hour and the right to unionize! Employees will not flinch until everyone has made at least $ 15! # FightFor15 https://t.co/pPgSODMEph pic.twitter.com/c7a5rxkvHg
Fight for 15 and Union, an international labor movement advocating for higher wages, confirmed the strike will also include caravans and strike lines at Zoom. Backed by the Service Employees International Union, workers representing cities including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Milwaukee are fighting for their right to unite.
The movement claimed to have won more than $ 70 billion in wage increases for more than 27 million people, and successfully lobbied to pass minimum wage laws of $ 15 an hour in at least eight states.
Organizers have also challenged Joe Biden to increase pay to $ 15 in his first 100 days. On Thursday, the president-elect unveiled his coronavirus economic aid package that included the said mandate. However, it is unclear how likely the legislation is to pass in Congress, where Democrats have narrow margins in both chambers.
Joe Biden
(@JoeBiden)It’s been a long time since the minimum wage has to be raised, so hardworking people make at least $ 15 an hour.
I hope that democratic scrutiny of the House and Senate will ensure that action is taken quickly to make it happen.
Previously elected president tweeted he hoped the House and Senate would act to pass federal legislation enforcing a $ 15-an-hour wage increase.
“I have long said that we should reward work, not just wealth, in this country,” Biden said at the time. “People in both parties are now recognizing that it is time to raise the minimum wage so that hardworking people earn at least $ 15 an hour.”
Proponents believe that the U.S. national minimum wage has a disproportionate impact on black and Latino workers. According to Fight for 15, which cites the Brookings Institution and Department of Labor for their findings, an increase in the minimum wage would affect nearly 25 million Americans, fighting the gender pay gap, exacerbated by a coronavirus pandemic that cost more than 389,000. lives in the US.
Opponents argue that raising the federal minimum wage will result in significant job losses. According to a 2019 Congressional Budget Office report, a $ 15 per hour wage increase for just 17 million workers could result in layoffs and facility closures for others.
The report estimates that by 2025, an average of 1.3 million workers could lose their jobs in an average week.
Still, in places like Chicago and Los Angeles, where workers have successfully strived to raise the minimum wage, workers will go on strike in solidarity to demand that all American workers receive $ 15 an hour.