The "Fight for $15" Movement's Next Destination Is Rest-Stop McDonald's Locations

As the campaign to raise the minimum working wage to $15 continues to pick up steam, fast-food franchisees and other foodservice providers have become a primary target. Now, Service Employees International Union, the union behind the famous “Fight for $15” movement, is looking to highway rest stop McDonald’s locations as a new target. 

According to an article on Bloomberg, QSR workers—along with some state lawmakers—at several Connecticut highway rest stops will announce wage theft claims against several companies including McDonald’s and declare their intent to unionize with the SEIU. The strategy is to target highway rest stops as, like airports, they are owned by the state and therefore easier to unionize under Federal Labor Law.

This isn’t McDonald’s first run-in with the “Fight for $15” campaign. Since fast-food workers kicked off the movement in 2012, McDonald’s has become one of the union’s primary targets. Last year, Bernie Sanders called on McDonald’s to raise the wage to $15, and this April, McDonald’s finally announced that it would no longer be fighting proposals for a higher minimum wage.

For years, SEIU leaders have focused on the top QSR corporations, with the idea that they establish the business model for franchisees and could therefore unionize. SEIU President Mary Kay Henry recently called on 2020 presidential candidates to “commit to bringing McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King to a national fast-food industry bargaining table that will lift wages and improve working conditions for fast-food workers across the nation.”

As election day gets closer, it is clear that the battle between the SEIU and major fast food franchises like McDonald’s is far from over