A national fast food strike involving thousands of low-wage workers will take place Aug. 29, the first national job action since the wave of one-day strikes began last fall in New York City.
The Low Pay Is Not OK website tells us:
Fast food and other low wage workers across the country are going on strike on August 29. We’ve had enough of struggling to get by on minimum wage or barely more, so we’re walking off our jobs to demand $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation.The fast food strike movement spread to eight U.S. cities over the summer and shows no signs of stopping. Workers in other low-wage occupations are also expected to strike soon in what some commentators call "strike season."
Q13Fox in Seattle reported:
Many, such as Burger King employee Terrance Wise, said the walkout is an effort to put pressure on the $200 billion fast-food industry.
“The more of us who go on strike that day, the louder our message will be that it is not right for companies making billions in profits to pay their workers pennies,” Wise said.
Retail workers from stores such as Macy’s, Sears and Dollar Tree are expected to join in the strike, lowpayisnot.org organizers said.
The strike will take place the day after the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, a march that called to raise minimum wage of $2 per hour. Adjusted to inflation, that minimum wage would equal $15.26 an hour today, according to an online inflation rate calculator. The federal minimum wage in 1963 was $1.25, which would equate to around $9.45 today.You can support the fast food strike by signing the petition here -- or brown-bagging it on Aug. 29. Or you could join them on a strike line in your city.
