Fast food wage strikes go global

Fast food workers across the world will stage a one-day walkout this Thursday in order to draw attention to low wages and unfair working conditions.

Employees from 33 countries on six continents have announced they are joining the growing movement for decent pay and basic rights at restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and KFC.

Workers in the US, where the campaign for better pay for fast-food workers began in 2012, will strike in 130 cities across the country.

The workers are demanding US$15 (approx.. €10.90) an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation.

Workers in other countries, inspired by the US movement, will simultaneously hold protests calling for higher pay and an end to “abusive employment practices”.

"No matter where they live, fast-food workers want fair pay and rights on the job,” said McDonald’s worker Frances Cabrera, who plans to protest in Argentina.

“In Argentina, we’ve won some rights, but still struggle to get by on low pay. After seeing the courageous actions of American fast-food workers demanding change, we were inspired to join the growing movement."

The US campaign began with efforts by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to raise the minimum wage for fast food workers to US$15 an hour. The campaign, known as the “Fight for 15”, began in New York City and spread to all parts of the country, as well as gaining attention worldwide.

“It’s amazing that our fight for $15 and a union has inspired workers around the world to come together,” said Ashley Cathey, a McDonald’s worker from Memphis, Tennessee, who makes US$7.75 an hour after six years in the job. “Our campaign is growing and gaining momentum, and the highly-profitable fast-food industry needs to know we won’t stop fighting until our voices are heard.”

In a statement to the press, the SEIU said: “The movement is challenging fast-food companies’ outdated notion that their workers are teenagers looking for pocket change.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.”

Most of the planned walkouts worldwide on 15 May will be held at McDonald’s restaurants. In Germany, protests are planned at Burger King. Italy’s fast food workers are planning a strike at various fast-food restaurants in Venice, Milan and Rome, while in India workers say they also will strike at fast-food restaurants in three cities.

In the UK, there are protests planned in 20 cities organised by Hungry for Justice, a campaign that started earlier this year to organise fast-food workers.

"Despite the huge profits made by fast-food corporations, the average fast food worker in the UK struggles to survive on just £5 (US$8.50 or €6.10) an hour,” Julie Sherry, an organiser with Hungry for Justice, told Equal Times.

“McDonald’s, the leading player in the UK industry, boosts its mega-profits by forcing 90 percent of its workforce to live on zero-hours contracts, meaning workers have no guaranteed hours, but can be called in to work at the drop of a hat.”

Workers announced the strike outside a McDonald’s in Manhattan on 7 May, and then delivered a letter to McDonald’s calling on the corporation to raise wages and respect workers’ rights worldwide.

“On 15 May, we will be taking action together around the world to demand that McDonald’s — the second largest private sector employer in the world—respect its employees’ work,” the letter read.

Ron Oswald, general secretary of the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF), a federation representing a combined 12 million workers, told Equal Times: "The Fight for 15 in the US has caught the attention of workers around the world in a global fast-food industry where workers have recently been mobilising.”

“It has added further inspiration and led them to join together internationally in a fight for higher pay and better rights on the job.”

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), McDonald’s admitted that worker protests could force the corporation to raise wages this year.

Following the initial US protests, the US city of Seattle reached a deal last week for a $15 minimum wage. The Fight for 15 campaign has also been credited with elevating the debate around wage inequality in the US.

There have also been allegations of “widespread and systematic” theft of fast-food workers’ already-low wages, in seven class-action lawsuits against McDonald’s brought by workers in three US states earlier this year.

All cases allege “wage theft” and the violation of federal labour laws, including failure to pay the minimum wage, refusal of meal and rest breaks, and forced unpaid overtime.

One in ten US fast-food workers said they experience wage theft, most commonly in the form of mandatory off-the-clock work, in a poll conducted by Hart Research.

McDonald’s says it is now conducting a comprehensive investigation into the claims.