Fast-food restaurant workers in 15 U.S. cities went on strike on Tuesday demanding an increase in their minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.
McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s workers, along with home care workers and nursing homes, took action while the Biden government is trying to force a $ 7.25 federal minimum wage increase in what would be the first increase since 2009 .
The strikes took place in Charleston, South Carolina; Chicago; Flint and Detroit, Michigan; Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina; Houston; Miami, Orlando and Tampa, Florida; São Luís; Oakland, Sacramento and San Jose, California; and Milwaukee.
Since 2012, the Fight for $ 15 movement has organized low-income workers in the United States to push for increases in state and local minimum wages and to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour.
“We heard you applauding essential workers. We see the great show that you do thanking us. But, to be honest, it didn’t translate into changes in my life. We were living on the razor’s edge long before Covid-19 arrived in South Carolina. And we are still living on that, ”said Taiwanna Milligan, a McDonald’s worker in Charleston who makes $ 8.75 an hour after working at the restaurant chain. for eight years, in a recent article demanding a federal minimum wage of $ 15 an hour to increase.
Workers are conducting strikes because the proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour by 2025 is included in the coronavirus aid package that House Democrats plan to approve and send to the Senate in the next two weeks.
In the Senate, legislation still faces potential obstacles, including Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who opposed the inclusion of the bill in pandemic relief, and the possibility for the Senate congressman to enact a measure. minimum wage cannot be included in the relief account.
Ieishia Franceis has worked at Freddy’s Frozen Custards in west Durham, North Carolina, since July 2020 and earns $ 9.20 an hour. She was one of several workers who went on strike on Tuesday.
“A $ 15 minimum wage would free me for many things. My main goal is to be able to save enough money to enter a home and own a home. This would allow me to begin this process. This would allow me to have money left over from one paycheck to another, to better support my family in terms of food, and would allow me to get transportation so I don’t have to take the bus, ”she said.
In October 2020, Franceis and his colleagues went on strike after their requests for paid sick leave for quarantine and Covid-19 testing were initially denied. The Family Coronavirus Response Act first, passed in March 2020, exempted employers with more than 500 employees from granting employees two weeks’ pay if they needed to be quarantined or recover from Covid-19. Now, Franceis and her co-workers are fighting for a minimum wage of $ 15, an additional health hazard while continuing to work during the pandemic, health benefits and, finally, a union.
“Sometimes companies are so involved in doing business that they forget who runs them. We will continue to fight and we will not stop until we have all the equality for which we fight ”, added Franceis. “Congress needs to put our money where their mouths are. During their campaigns, they said they would raise the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour. Live up to what you said. We shouldn’t have to wait until next year or next year. The account is there. Just pass and you’re done. “
Based on a recent analysis by the Brookings Institution, 47% of essential workers are in occupations where the average salary is currently less than $ 15 an hour. Gradually increasing it to $ 15 an hour would increase the pay of 32 million workers in the United States, including 59% of workers with total family income below the poverty line. With the increase in the federal minimum wage, 31% of black workers and 26% of Latin workers in the USA would receive an increase.