Fast Food Strikes Coming To 150 Cities, Organizers Say

[freebuddy]

Fast Food Strikes Coming To 150 Cities, Organizers Say

Dave Jamieson 09/02/14 10:17 AM ET

If Irvin Ortega doesn't show up for his scheduled shift at an Oakland McDonald's this week, it will mark the third time in the past year and a half that the 25-year-old has taken part in the nationwide fast food strikes.

"My manager was telling me, 'It's your right to go on strike. But if you can tell me when you will, I can cover your hours,'" said Ortega, an Oakland native. "I said, 'That defeats the purpose. The purpose is so you realize you need me and I'm a valuable worker.'"

Over the past two years, low-wage strikers like Ortega have helped fuel the national discussion on income inequality and have pressured lawmakers to consider raising the minimum wage. With the backing of the Service Employees International Union and a coalition of community groups, the workers are demanding a wage floor of $15 and a union.

Now, organizers with what's known as Fight for $15 say they're planning an escalation in the protests scheduled for Thursday. Though they couldn't offer estimates on how many workers are expected to take part, organizers said the strikes would take place in roughly 150 cities and include workers from McDonalds, Burger King, Wendys and KFC, among others.

Terrence Wise, a Burger King worker and a member of the coalition's organizing committee, said in a statement that workers are ready to get arrested in acts of civil disobedience.

"Thirteen hundred workers unanimously adopted a resolution at our convention in July to do whatever it takes to win $15 an hour and union rights, including participating in non-violent, peaceful protests in the tradition of the civil rights movement," Wise said. "On Thursday, we are prepared to take arrests to show our commitment to the growing Fight for $15."

The Fight for $15 campaign got a boost on Monday during President Barack Obama's Labor Day speech. Speaking to a crowd of union members and supporters in Milwaukee, Obama argued that the risks taken by fast-food workers underscore the need to raise the minimum wage.

"All across the country right now theres a national movement going on made up of fast-food workers organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity," Obama said. "There is no denying a simple truth. America deserves a raise."

The president is backing a Democratic proposal to hike the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour and tie it to an inflation index, though congressional Republicans have blocked the proposal from moving forward.

In a nod to one of the fast-food workers' explicit demands, Obama also made a rare call for more collective bargaining in the U.S. economy, arguing that union membership would raise standards for lower-wage service workers.

"You know what? If I were looking for a job that lets me build some security for my family, Id join a union," Obama said. "If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest days pay for an honest days work, Id join a union."

With a few exceptions, the fast food industry is a union-free world. Coordinated by SEIU and its allies, the Fight for $15 campaign signifies organized labor's most concerted and sustained effort to draw fast-food workers into its ranks.

The strikes and protests have been credited with helping to push through minimum wage raises on the local and state level over the past year. They've also brought a stream of negative publicity to fast food companies like McDonald's, which acknowledged in its annual report earlier this year that the "increasing public focus" on income inequality could pressure it to raise wages.

Although the campaign hasn't yet led to union membership for Ortega, the three-year McDonald's veteran said taking part in the strikes has changed the way he sees his job. He has a 3-year-old daughter, and said he now earns $9 per hour, the California minimum wage. Unhappy with his pay, Ortega said the protests have given him and his colleagues an outlet to voice their dissatisfaction, as well as the hope that working standards in the industry will rise.

"I felt like my manager gave me more respect," Ortega said of the strikes. "And that's something I want to give to my other coworkers. I know people who've been working [in fast food] for 15 years. You can show them you're not happy."

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5751630

[Dral]

$15 an hour for flipping burgers? Only way this happens is if the cost gets passed onto the customers and I doubt anyone is willing to be that much for a meal at McD's

[SabreFan1]

It's not going to do them much good. These places will just hire replacements at the current wage. It's in the fast food restaurant's best interests even if they have to close for a week and a half to hire and train replacements. Unfortunately for those workers, their jobs are simple which in turn makes them expendable.

[Mr. Ambien]

[SabreFan1]

Sad but true... lol

[Mr. Ambien]

I don't see anything sad about it.. it's already happening thanks to Seattle.

If idiots who know nothing about economics wish to arbitrarily raise wage price floors to unreasonable levels, it should be expected a business go to extra lengths to save on overhead.

Increasing prices for the consumer would inevitably happen but it would be the last resort.. usually other methods of overhead reduction are attempted first. However, such a high jump leaves not many other options besides getting rid of most employees for the screens.

No idea why these people thought they should be making 50-70% more out of the blue for jobs kids in high school easily work.

[Dral]

Nothing sad about progress and technology

[Ghostsof1915]

Nothing sad about progress and technology

Until your the poor bugger that gets replaced....

He should pick up a trade instead.

[viking mama]

These are low-paying entry-level jobs, with high-turn-over.....on par with delivering newspapers, picking berries, or dishwashing. The owners or managers of these places apparently don't seem to care if they have to keep training replacement workers, and experience is not necessarily required for the positions.

I dont see things changing much. Shut 'em down for a day... and then the patrons will just flock to grocery stores or other places...or maybe even start packing their own meals from home as a sack-lunch for a healthier change. But, they'll flock back the minute the counters open-up again, for their convenience. Sorry - but even if they collectively cooperate to strike,..fast-food workers just have so little leverage. They'll just risk losing their jobs, or perhaps even shutting-down outlets, by ticking-off the wrong people.

[TOMapleLaughs]

"You need me and I'm a valuable worker."

[mdehaan]

#Inflation

[nuck nit]

The poverty line is being declared at $13 per hour in B.C..

I hope they can bring their hourly wages up to reflect their poverty line.

Labour delegation will ask the province to raise the minimum wage from $10.25 to $13 an hour. B.C. union leaders want the minimum wage to be increased from the current $10.25 to $13 an hour, which represents the poverty line.

[key2thecup]

Here's The Burger-Flipping Robot That Could Put Fast-Food Workers Out Of A Job

A company called Momentum Machines has built a robot that could radically change the fast-food industry and have some line cooks looking for new jobs. The company's robot can "slice toppings like tomatoes and pickles immediately before it places the slice onto your burger, giving you the freshest burger possible." The robot is "more consistent, more sanitary, and can produce ~360 hamburgers per hour." That's one burger every 10 seconds.

The next generation of the device will offer "custom meat grinds for every single customer. Want a patty with 1/3 pork and 2/3 bison ground to order? No problem."

Momentum Machines cofounder Alexandros Vardakostas told Xconomy his "device isn’t meant to make employees more efficient. It’s meant to completely obviate them." Indeed, marketing copy on the company's site reads that their automaton "does everything employees can do, except better."

This directly raises a question that a lot of smart people have contemplated: Will robots steal our jobs? Opinion is divided of course.

Here's what Momentum Machines has to say on the topic:

The issue of machines and job displacement has been around for centuries and economists generally accept that technology like ours actually causes an increase in employment. The three factors that contribute to this are 1. the company that makes the robots must hire new employees, 2. the restaurant that uses our robots can expand their frontiers of production which requires hiring more people, and 3. the general public saves money on the reduced cost of our burgers. This saved money can then be spent on the rest of the economy.

If we are to undertake the lofty ambition of changing the nature of work by way of robots, the fast-food industry seems like a good place to start, considering its inherently repetitive tasks and minimal skill requirements. Any roboticist worth his or her salt jumps at tasks described as repetitive and easy — perfect undertakings for a robot.

Here's a schematic of what the burger-bot looks like and how it works. It occupies 24 square feet, so it's much smaller than most assembly-line fast-food operations. It boasts "gourmet cooking methods never before used in a fast food restaurant" and will even deposit your completed burger into a bag. It's a veritable Gutenberg printing press for hamburgers.

http://www.businessinsider.com/momentum-machines-burger-robot-2014-8

[DonLever]

If it is $15 per hour for jobs with liitle skills, then jobs that are semi-skilled will demand $20-$25, more skilled jobs, $30-35, etc up the line. If all wages up, then prices of goods/services go up to compensate. In the end its the same result.

[Bure to Mogilny]

I a gree with others here this is a joke but this organizers could create problems for are economys so the best might be to arrest them incase this turns to be a real problem. End the issue before it comes a problem

[nuckin_futz]

I a gree with others here this is a joke but this organizers could create problems for are economys so the best might be to arrest them incase this turns to be a real problem. End the issue before it comes a problem

Yeah the best is to arrest people who don't show up for their shift at Mickey D's.

At least you're good for a chuckle.

[:D]

Fire them all. They're easily replaced by jailbait from a local high school

[:D]

People like this should be glad that they even have jobs.

[SabreFan1]

People like this should be glad that even have jobs.

[:D]

they they they

Hey, I'm not on trial here!