Business
Fast-Food Workers Plan to Strike in 150 U.S. Cities
Demonstrators rally for better wages outside a McDonald’s restaurant in New York, as part of a national protest, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
(CBS News) – Fast-food workers in more than 150 U.S. cities are expected to walk off their jobs Thursday, the latest in a series of protests demanding a higher minimum wage and the opportunity to unionize.
These planned labor disruptions are part of a campaign that began two years ago with nationwide strikes and that flared most recently in September. The walkouts are backed by one of the country’s largest labor organizations, the Service Employees International Union. And organizers say their movement is gaining momentum.
“Seattle and San Francisco passed laws raising wages to $15 over the next couple years, and cities from New York to Los Angeles are pushing for higher wages too,” according to the website of StrikeFastFood, a group involved in planning the walkouts. “But there’s still a long way to go before every worker gets $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. It’s going to be a hard fight, but we know we can do it. We don’t have any other choice.”
