Fast-food workers strike nationwide for $15 wage hike

Across the country, thousands of fast-food workers took to the streets Tuesday demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage hike.

Fight for 15, the union-backed campaign aimed at boosting the minimum wage, held its largest mass demonstration yet. Tens of thousands of workers and supporters took part in rallies planned for 1,000 cities throughout the nation, beginning around dawn at McDonald’s outlets in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, among many other places.

In contrast to their nine previous walkouts, the workers are putting on a forceful political stamp. The day-long offensive, including late afternoon parades to local city halls, culminated with a protest at the Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee.

While Fight for 15’s endgame remains uncertain, the campaign’s growing political muscle is obvious. Hillary Clinton, the leading candidate for the Democratic nomination, offered a message of encouragement directly to the strikers, while another candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, spoke to striking workers outside the U.S. Capitol. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed a demonstration in Brooklyn, saying Fight for $15 has “changed this city, changed this state and changed this nation.” New York State has approved a law to gradually increase the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15.

But not all feedback has been supportive. The National Restaurant Association says a $15 base would be too much, too fast—about 90 percent of restaurants are small businesses that lack deep pockets.

In an interview with USA Today, Michael Mabry, chief operating officer of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries & Shakes*, says the chain’s workers earn an average of $9 to $14 an hour, and hiking base pay to $15 would force franchisees to raise prices, cut per-store staffing from six to four workers, or a combination of the two.

A recent survey by the National Employment Law Project found that most unregistered voters would sign up, and registered voters would be more likely to vote, if a candidate backs a $15 hourly wage.

“People are going to be looking for that in a candidate, and they will vote for politicians that are responsive to their economic well-being,” said NELP Executive Director Christine Owens in USA Today.