Fast Food Workers Set to Protest For Wage Increase

By Tom Edathikunnel

Police are gearing up as fast food workers across the country are standing up this week and demanding higher wages. From Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, and Chicago, workers throughout the country are seeking an increase in wages to $15 an hour.

Fight for $15 Florida is promoting #strikefastfood on Facebook and Twitter.

A vast majority of workers make minimum wage, $8 an hour, with no benefits. Compounding the problem of low pay, many employees are technically part time and receive less than 40 hours a work week.

The “Fight for 15“ group, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, is planning a national fast food worker protest for Thursday, December 4. Fast food workers in over 150 cities will walk off the job in hopes of receiving higher pay, according to SrikeFastFood.org, the movement’s homepage.

Additionally, workers are also demanding the right to form a union, ensuring that fast food employees across the country will receive adequate wages and benefits.

Since 2012, strikes by fast food workers striving for high wages have become increasingly common. Earlier this year workers planned a simultaneous demonstration in which they protested in front of a New York City McDonald’s locations. Protests continued in September, this time in over 100 cities across the country, according to Eater.

Rallies and sit-ins occurred throughout McDonald’s restaurants in numerous cities including Rockford Il; Hartford Ct and Boston. Police arrested over 100 hundred protesters, including 19 workers in New York, 42 in Detroit, 23 in Chicago, 11 in Little Rock, and 10 in Las Vegas, according to the LA Times.

In September, Chicago protestors blocked a street, forcing police to reroute traffic, according to a CBS News report. Cars were declined to pass and police eventually arrested at least four demonstrators.

A wage increase will invariably affect the fast food industry. Stephen J. Calderia, president of the International Franchise Association estimated in the New York Times that a $15 wage increase would lead to a 25 to 50 percent increase in food prices. “Increasing the cost of labor would lead to high prices for the consumer, lower foot traffic and sales for franchise owners, and ultimately lost entry-level jobs.”

The protests continue to gain momentum as both Seattle and San Francisco have voted to raise their minimum wages to $15.

Image: Andrew Burton/Getty Images