Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Fast food workers in New York City will walk off their jobs Thursday as part of a wave of strikes and protests in 150 cities across the US and 33 additional countries on six continents.

The workers are calling on Albany lawmakers to allow NYC, and other cities and counties across the state, to raise the state’s inadequate $8 / hour minimum wage. They’re also continuing their call for $15 an hour and the right to form a without retaliation, in what USA Today calls “the issue that won’t go away” for the fast food industry.

WHO: McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Domino’s, KFC, and Wendy’s workers; clergy, elected officials, and community supporters will join fast food workers on the strike lines.

WHAT: Walk off jobs, calling on Albany to let cities and counties raise the minimum wage, and for the fast food industry to pay $15 an hour and allow workers to form a without interference


In the US, strikes are expected in cities from Los Angeles to Boston, including the first-ever walkouts in Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia and Sacramento, as the campaign for $15 an hour and the right to form a without retaliation grows. Around the world, workers are planning major protests in at least 33 countries, spanning 80 cities, including in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Malawi, Morocco, New Zealand, Panama, and the United Kingdom.

Background:
A campaign that started in New York City in November 2012 has spread to more than 150 cities in every region of the country, including the South—and now around the world. The growing fight for $15 has been credited with elevating the debate around inequality in the U.S. When Seattle's mayor proposed a $15 minimum wage earlier this month, Businessweek said he was “adopting the rallying cry of fast-food workers.”

Workers in New York are taking their campaign for decent wages that support families to lawmakers in Albany today too. They're urging the legislature to pass RaiseUpNY (S6516/A9036), sponsored by State Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Black and Latino Caucus Chair Assemblyman Karim Camara (D-Brooklyn), which would allow New York cities and counties to enact higher local minimum wages.

As it spreads, the movement is challenging fast food companies’ outdated notion that their workers are teenagers looking for pocket change. Today’s workers are mothers and fathers struggling to raise children on wages that are too low. And they’re showing the industry that if it doesn’t raise pay, it will continue to be at the center of the national debate on what’s wrong with our economy.

And in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McDonald’s said worker protests might force it to raise wages this year. With shareholder meeting season upon us, and a recent report showing the industry has by far the largest disparity between worker and CEO pay, scrutiny on fast-food companies is bound to intensify.