400 NYC Fast Food Workers Strike at More than 60
Restaurants
By
FBWorld Team
400
fast-food workers walked off their jobs at more than
60 NYC restaurants Thursday, marking the largest fast food strike
in US history. "We deserve better," said Glenda Soto,
a McDonald's worker. "I work very hard. I'm a single mom,
I have 3 kids, and on $7.25 an hour I can't support them, and
I can't give them the education I want them to have. That hurts
all of us."
There
are 50,000 fast food workers in NYC- their jobs are the fastest
growing in the US, but they're also the lowest paid; fast food
workers earn between $10,000 and $18,000 / year- less than half
what it costs to support a family in New York City. Fast food
workers often qualify for food stamps and other public assistance,
which means that corporations in the $200 billion fast food industry
are forcing taxpayers to subsidize their low wages and burdening
the US economy.
In
March, faith leaders launched their own campaign to support the
city's low-wage fast food workers-noting that the majority of
jobs gained back in recovery have been low-wage service ones,
like fast food. And dozens were out on strike lines Thursday standing
in support of the walkout. "We need to get our economy moving
again - and that starts with workers in low-wage service jobs,"
said Reverend Cheri Kroon of Flatbush Reform Church in Brooklyn.
Faith leaders have historically played crucial roles in campaigns
for social justice and economic equality.
Thursday's
strike coincided with the 45th anniversary of the assassination
of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, who was killed in Memphis,
where he went to support sanitation workers striking for their
basic human right to earn a decent living in exchange for full-time
work. They believed then, as fast food workers do today, that
living wages aren't just a matter of human dignity- they're the
only way to get the economy moving again. "What Martin Luther
King Jr. accomplished with the Memphis sanitation strikers took
a lot of hard work and sacrifice, and now we're trying to follow
in their footsteps.
We're
not looking for a handout, we're saying we deserve the same things
they fought for, to be treated with respect and to earn enough
to afford food, rent, and clothing," said Chad Tall, a 20
year old Taco Bell worker who makes $7.50 an hour. "With
money in our pockets, we can support our families, and help the
economy grow. Heck, we could finally afford to buy a meal at these
restaurants, instead of just serving them," he continued.
Thursday's walkout follows the fast food workers' historic November
strike. Today's action, organized by workers part of Fast Food
Forward, more than doubled its size, with 400 workers from more
than 60 stores.