Los Angeles: Demonstrators take part in a protest to demand higher wages for fast-food workers outside McDonald's on May 15, 2014.Lucy Nicholson—Reuters
Fast food workers demanding higher wages staged strikes in dozens of cities across as many as 30 countries Thursday, alongside 150 similar protests planned in the United States.
Workers were set to take to the streets in Seoul, Dublin, Casablanca and Panama City, part of strikes planned in as many as 80 cities, the New York Times reports.
“We’re here to get $15 and a union, we’re here to strike, we’re here to make some noise and we’re here to disrupt because that’s the only way to get their attention,” Taco Bell employee Chad Tall said on CNN. He and other workers were striking outside a McDonald’s in New York.
The most recent round of fast food wage strikes began more than a year ago, but they have failed to meet their goal of forcing McDonald’s and other companies to raise workers’ wages to at least $15 an hour. (The current federal minimum wage in the U.S. is $7.25.)
Protest organizers in the U.S. have turned to international workers to increase global pressure on fast food companies in light of dwindling membership in American unions. Fast food companies increasingly rely on international revenue in the face of falling U.S. sales.
“Fast-food workers in many other parts of the world face the same corporate policies—low pay, no guaranteed hours and no benefits,” said Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union.
The median pay for fast food workers is slightly higher than $9 an hour, coming out to $18,500 a year, CNN reports—which falls short of the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold of $23,000 for a family of four.
Photos: Fast Food Workers Launch Largest Strike Yet
Los Angeles: Demonstrators take part in a protest to demand higher wages for fast-food workers outside McDonald's on May 15, 2014.Lucy Nicholson—ReutersAtlanta: Demonstrators protest outside a McDonald's restaurant demanding better wages on May 15, 2014.David Goldman—APAtlanta: Burger King employee Brittany Buckhannon, 24, right, demonstrates during a protest for higher wages and worker's unions outside a McDonald's restaurant on May 15, 2014.David Goldman—APAtlanta: Long John Silver's employee Antwon Brown, 31, wears a shirt advocating for higher wages during a protest outside a Long John Silver's restaurant on May 15, 2014.David Goldman—APDetroit: Velma Conrelius protests for higher wages outside a McDonalds restaurant on May 15, 2014.Paul Sancya—APMiami: Deborah Dion, from the Voices for Working Families organization, stands in protest near a McDonald's on May 15, 2014. J. Pat Carter—APChicago: Fast food workers and activists demonstrate outside McDonald's downtown flagship restaurant on May 15, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty ImagesPhoenix: In events playing out at fast food restaurants around the globe, Arizona fast food workers and their supporters picketed outside a Burger King restaurant today, May 15, 2014. Parker Haeg—Demotix/CorbisBoston: Demonstrators are reflected in the window as a man eats inside a Burger King restaurant on May 15, 2014. Brian Snyder—ReutersNew York: A Wendy's restaurant worker looks out at a fair wage demonstration as it passes by on May 15, 2014.Brendan McDermid—ReutersAtlanta: Krispy Kreme employee Beverly Ford, rear, looks on as demonstrators enter the store during a protest on May 15, 2014.David Goldman—APLos Angeles: Demonstrators take part in a protest to demand higher wages for fast-food workers outside McDonald's on May 15, 2014. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersLos Angeles: Fernando Gutierrez, 26, takes part in a protest to demand higher wages for fast-food workers outside McDonald's on May 15, 2014. Lucy Nicholson—ReutersAtlanta: Burger King employee Keisha King, 23, stands during a protest outside a Krispy Kreme store on May 15, 2014.David Goldman—APAtlanta: Long John Silver employee Antwon Brown, 31, joins fellow fast food workers and supporters in a protest outside a Krispy Kreme store on May 15, 2014.David Goldman—AP
