Fast food workers go on strike in honor of MLK

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The demonstrations would take place in more than 15 cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles. The strike was organized by supporters of Fight for $ 15 and a Union, the labor advocacy organization that has pushed to raise the federal minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $ 15 an hour and to grant collective bargaining rights to fast food workers who disproportionately black and tan to be. .
Fight for $ 15, organizing director Allynn Umel said her organization’s cause is a king he would have defended, noting that the civil rights icon marched in support of labor rights for plumbing workers in Memphis the day before he was appointed in 1968 murdered.

“There are workers in the South who are still carrying on that legacy to fight for racial and economic justice because they know those fights are intertwined,” Umel told CNN Business on Friday.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 20% of America’s estimated 3.9 million fast food workers are black, although black Americans make up only 13% of the US population. Umel said fast food companies that support King’s legacy and want to continue his fight against institutional racism can start by raising their workers’ wages and getting them to unionize.

“Raising the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour is one of the most powerful tools to help black and brown workers,” she said.

Fight for $ 15 and a Union protest in Memphis, TN, on January 15, 2021.
The striking protesters work at many of the country’s most popular chains, including McDonald’s (MCD), Taco Bell and Burger King.

McDonald’s chef Rita Blalock, 54, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was one of dozens of fast food workers who took part in a motorhome protest outside a McDonald’s restaurant in the nearby town of Durham on Friday.

Blalock said her employer cut her hours in March when Covid-19-related lockdowns caused many fast food chains to lose business. Since then, Blalock, who says she makes $ 10 an hour, has struggled to pay her bills. She said McDonald’s could improve her situation by raising their minimum wages nationally and granting workers like her guaranteed benefits, including medical insurance and paid sick leave.

“I couldn’t pay rent, couldn’t eat often,” she told CNN Business. “If you can’t get to work just that many hours, you don’t have enough to cover what you need to cover in the first place.”

Rita Blalock is on strike on January 15, 2021 with workers in Durham, NC.

McDonald’s said it unequivocally supports the need for racial equality and social justice and that Friday’s strike does not reflect how it protected and employed more than 800,000 people during the pandemic. The company stopped lobbying against increases in the federal minimum wage in 2019 and says elected officials have a responsibility to debate, change, and set the standards.

“We are committed to ensuring that everyone working under the Arches comes every day to a safe and inclusive workplace that provides access to continuous opportunity,” McDonald’s spokesperson Jesse Lewin said via email.

Wanda Lavender works as a manager at a Popeyes in Milwaukee. The 39-year-old single mother of six took part in a car caravan protest at a McDonald’s in Milwaukee on Friday afternoon. She said she makes $ 12 an hour and works more than 50 hours a week at Popeyes. Lavender says she has not been paid for sick leave or vacation days since 2019.

“These are the things we fought for over 50 years ago and we are fighting for the same things now,” she said.

Popeyes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Umar Benson, an employee who strikes with Fight for $ 15 and a Union in Durham, NC on January 15, 2021.

A turning point

Umel said the Fight for $ 15 movement hit a milestone in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced many Americans to take a closer look at the plight of the largely black and brown working poor. Fast food workers make up a large portion of the essential workers who have gone to work while many other Americans worked from home.
In the beginning, many struggled to find personal protective equipment to wear on the job, while their employers rushed to give them masks, gloves and cleaning supplies.
The saga played on the news throughout the year, to a largely captive audience of outside workers and the unemployed. It resulted in 20 states agreeing to raise their minimum wages, and President-elect Joe Biden calling for raising the federal minimum to $ 15 an hour as part of his proposed $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid package.

“This moment really comes down to a change and an awareness of the value of work,” said Umel. “It is an admission that it is well past the time for this to happen.”

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