Fast food workers in New York City are expected to walk off the job this morning in a one-day strike, a rarity in the food service industry.
Salon ‘s Josh Eidelson reports that McDonald’s, Burger King, Domino’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, and Papa John’s workers are expected to organize for a one-day strike protesting low wages, limited hours, and fickle job security in a still-stressed US economy.
“They’re not paying us enough to survive,” McDonald’s employee Raymond Lopez told Eidelson. “This company has enough money to pay us a reasonable amount for all that we do … they’re just not going to give it to us as long as they can get away with it.”
According to The New York Times , workers are hoping for wages of $15 per hour. Twenty-one-year-old Lopez works as a shift manager at $8.75 each hour. Lopez alleged that he suffers routine “verbal abuse” and that he has to work off the clock “all of the time.”
“Everything we do needs to be fast, needs to be perfect,” Lopez said, continuing, “when you’re actually there for eight hours smiling like you’re on the Miss Universe contest, it’s not easy.”
According to Business Insider , the fast food industry is practically devoid of union influence, and such strikes are rare.
It is not currently known how many chose to participate in the fast food strike. Though organizers are hoping for high turnouts based on the Black Friday Walmart strike, that particular walk-out seemed to pull lukewarm support , if not enthusiastic media response .