Fast food workers strike for higher wages
Source: USA Today
Bruce Horovitz, Yamiche Alcindor,Calum MacLeod, Kim Hjelmgaard,
NEW YORK — Hundreds of fast food workers walked off their jobs in dozens of U.S. cities on Thursday -- reportedly forcing at least a few locations to temporarily close or re-staff while mostly managers filled-in -- as sympathetic protesters in several dozen countries joined in a united call for wages of $15 an hour and the right to form a union.
No violence was reported early Thursday. Restaurants such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and KFC are being targeted. The strike, targeting the $200 billion fast-food industry at a time of intense competition, is aimed at directing consumer attention to the low wages of most fast-food workers. The one-day campaign continues protests launched 18 months ago.
Strikers claim that managers opted to close down a Burger King in Dorchester, Mass, where a half dozen workers were striking, but Burger King officials could not immediately confirm that. "During this time, customer service and quality will remain a top priority in Burger King restaurants," company spokesman Alix Salyers said, in a statement. While McDonald's officials insist that no McDonald's restaurants have been closed anywhere due to the strike, protesters insist that several have.
In New York City, dozens of workers stood outside a McDonald's nearby Penn Station demanding higher wages and the right to form a union. Protesters partially blocked some entrances to the restaurant where they stalled, but did not halt, sales.
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Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/05/15/fast-food-workers-strike/9114245/
Fast-food workers and supporters protest low wages outside a Krispy Kreme store on May 15 in Atlanta. Fast-food workers around the world are demanding higher pay and the right to form a union without retaliation in a wave of strikes and protests in 150 cities across the USA and 33 countries on six continents. (Photo: David Goldman, AP)
Demonstrators holding posters march during a protest to demand higher wages for fast-food workers in Tokyo on May 15.
(Photo: Toru Hanai, Reuters)
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