Fast food workers go on strike in honor of MLK

The protests were scheduled to 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 workers’ advocacy group that lobbied to raise the federal minimum wage from $ 7.25 to $ 15 an hour and grant rights to collective bargaining to fast food workers, who are disproportionately black and brown. .

Fight for $ 15 The organization’s director, Allynn Umel, said her organization’s cause was one King would have championed, noting that the civil rights icon had marched in support of the labor rights of workers in the Memphis sanitation the day before his assassination in 1968.

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

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

McDonald’s cook, Rita Blalock, 54, of Raleigh, North Carolina, was one of dozens of fast food workers taking part in a caravan protest outside a McDonald’s restaurant in nearby Durham on Friday.

Blalock said his employer cut back hours in March when lockdowns linked to Covid-19 caused many fast food chains to lose business. Since then, Blalock, who claims to earn $ 10 an hour, has struggled to pay his bills. She said McDonald’s could improve its situation by raising their minimum wage nationwide and giving workers perks such as its guaranteed benefits, including medical insurance and paid sick leave.

“I couldn’t pay rent, I couldn’t eat a lot of times,” she told CNN Business. “If you can’t go to work but have so many hours, you don’t have enough to cover what you need to cover in the first place.”

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

“We strive to ensure that everyone who works under The Arches show up every day in a safe and inclusive workplace that provides access to ongoing opportunities,” McDonald’s spokesperson Jesse Lewin said by mail. electronic.

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

“These are the things that we have been fighting for over 50 years and we are fighting for these same things now,” she said.

Popeyes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A turning point

“This moment really comes down to a change and an awareness of the value of work,” Umel said. “It is a recognition that it is way beyond the time to make this happen.”