RT NewsFast-food employees are conducting a nationwide strike in the US on Thursday, December 5, demanding a $15 dollar minimum wage.
Orchestrated by the National Fast Food Workers Campaign, the organization is hoping workers in more than 100 cities across the United States will join the effort by walking out and protesting low wages in fast-food restaurants.
While fast-food employees earn a median wage of $8.90 per hour, a little more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, workers argue it’s simply not enough to live off of. Protesters are expected to walk out of various restaurants, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Subway, Wendy’s, and KFC.
4.30 PM GMT Fast food workers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania joined the strike this morning, according to local WTAE, when about 75 people rallied around a local Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds around 6 a.m. Another protest is scheduled for noon.
“As fast-food workers across the nation prepare a new wave of strikes to raise their wages, elected officials, activists, community members and fast-food workers in Pittsburgh will also strike and form picket lines, in downtown and on the Northside, against poverty wages and in support of the workers’ call for a $15 per hour for fast-food jobs and the right to form a union without retaliation,” stated the community organizers at One Pittsburgh in a news release.
Dunkin Donuts in downtown Pittsburgh closed due to strike! #FastFoodStrikes pic.twitter.com/OaqXDnPsWh
— SEIU Healthcare PA (@seiuhcpa) December 5, 2013
4.28 PM GMT
Massive crowd heading towards Wendy's at Fulton Mall #fastfoodstrikes #d5 pic.twitter.com/1oCwrSPUcg
— Greg Basta (@GregTBasta) December 5, 2013
4.14 PM GMT In Detroit, Michigan, dozens of protestors assembled at a local McDonald’s, where striking employees said their goal was to walk out and “shut the restaurant down.” As CBS Detroit reported, the fast-food joint ended up staying open, but supporters shouted their desire to raise the minimum wage and chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, $7.40 has got to go.”
“People with kids know it’s not enough and people with responsibilities that have bills to pay, they know it’s not enough,” an unidentified McDonald’s employee told WWJ. “But it’s enough for me because it’s just me. So, I’m still walking out with them.”
We're in this together! Are you with us? RT if you support the fight for 15. #FastFoodStrikes #detroit pic.twitter.com/KHhSM6q4km
— Detroit 15 (@Detroit_15) December 5, 2013
4.09 PM GMT
Strike outside a McDonalds in West Town, Chicago. It's a Grinch #FastFoodStrikes pic.twitter.com/GdsiVSUzXW
— Adam Gabbatt (@adamgabbatt) December 5, 2013
4.00 PM GMT So far, protests have been confirmed in cities such as New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Los Angeles, and New Orleans, while others continue to join what’s being billed as the largest fast food protest in U.S. history.