Fast food workers from more than a dozen U.S. cities went on strike Friday to demand that the federal minimum be raised to $ 15 an hour.
Before Monday’s holiday in honor of U.S. civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., told the group known as Fight for 15 that workers from mega-corporations, including McDonald’s and Starbucks, were encouraged to step down from their jobs on what would have been King’s 92nd birthday. on January 15th.
Karesha Manns, a Memphis McDonald’s employee, said in a statement that she earns $ 10 an hour at her local McDonald’s, “which is not enough to pay the bills or support. [her] family ”.
‘I continue today to continue [the reverend’s] fights for racial and economic justice in this country, which means that every working person earns a living wage and has a job with dignity, ”reads the statement.
Since 2012, the group has organized outings that increase the federal minimum wage. The federal minimum wage remained at $ 7.25 for more than ten years.
Fight for 15 and Union, an international movement of workers working for higher wages, has confirmed that the strike will include caravans and strike lines on Zoom. Supported by the International Civil Service, employees are fighting in cities including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami and Milwaukee, for their right to unite.
The movement claims to have won more than $ 27 billion in increases for more than 27 million people, and has worked successfully to pass a minimum wage law of $ 15 per hour in at least eight states.
Organizers also challenged Joe Biden to raise the salary to $ 15 in his first 100 days. The elected president on Thursday unveiled his economic relief package for coronavirus containing the said mandate. However, it is unclear how likely the legislation will pass in the U.S. Congress, where Democrats have a narrow margin in both chambers.
It’s long overdue to raise the minimum wage, so hardworking people earn at least $ 15 an hour.
I hope that the Democratic control of the House and the Senate will ensure that action can be taken quickly.
Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) 12 January 2021
Formerly elected president tweeted he hoped the House and Senate would act to pass federal legislation that would strengthen a $ 15-hour wage increase.
“I have long said that we should reward work, and not just wealth, in this country,” Biden said at the time. “People in both parties are now realizing that it’s time to raise the minimum wage so that hardworking people earn at least $ 15 an hour.”
Advocates claim the U.S. national minimum wage affects blacks and Latino employees excessively. According to Fight for 15, citing the Brookings Institution and the Department of Labor for their findings, raising the minimum wage will affect nearly 25 million Americans, who are fighting the racial and gender pay gap exacerbated by a coronavirus pandemic which cost more than 389,000. lives in the USA.
Opponents argue that raising the federal minimum wage will result in significant job losses. According to a 2019 Congressional Budget Office report, an increase of $ 15 per hour for just 17 million workers could mean layoffs and closure of facilities for others.
According to the report, as many as 1.3 million workers could lose their jobs in an average week in 2025.
In places like Chicago and Los Angeles, where workers have successfully sought to raise the minimum wage, workers will strike in solidarity to demand that all American workers receive $ 15 an hour.