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Omaha Steve

(99,573 posts) Sat Dec 6, 2014, 02:13 PM Dec 2014

Fast food workers’ strike fueled by other low-wage employees, Eric Garner

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/fast-food-workers-strike-fueled-other-low-wage-employees-eric-garner

By Emma Margolin

Thousands of low-wage employees in approximately 190 cities walked off the job Thursday in what organizers are calling the largest fast food worker strike to date.

Demanding $15-an-hour pay and the right to unionize without retaliation, fast food workers across the country hit the streets for the eighth time since the movement began two years ago with about a couple hundred employees in New York City. The campaign has since gone global, with one strike in May accompanied by solidarity rallies in 32 other countries. During the last nationwide fast food workers’ strike, on September 4, nearly 500 striking protesters were arrested in civil disobedience actions, such as blocking traffic.

RELATED: Red states consider minimum wage hike (@ link)

No one participating in Thursday’s protest had been arrested as of the afternoon, and there were no reported international rallies. But what made the strike unique was that for the first time employees from discount and convenience stores, as well as workers from 10 of the nation’s busiest airports joined forces with fast food employees in their call for higher wages and better working conditions. Home health care workers, who first participated in September’s strike, turned out in larger numbers this time around too, and some employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which recently saw its own series of strikes, also joined in.

“Now, it’s not just about fast food workers,” said Kendall Fells, organizing director for Fast Food Forward, in an interview with msnbc. “Just about every low-wage service sector industry is getting involved, which is pretty much the heart of the American economy.”

FULL story at link.