Reposted from Wonky News Nerd.
Fast-food workers in more than 150 cities plan to walk off their jobs Thursday to demand a wage of $15 per hour, according to the group
Strike Fast Food, which recently
held a convention to help the workers organize themselves.
According to MSNBC, "unlike any previous strikes in the fast food industry, Thursday’s action is likely to feature acts of civil disobedience in at least a handful of cities. If workers do risk arrest on Thursday, that would represent a significant escalation in movement tactics and militancy."
If the strikers are feeling bold, a shout-out from President Barack Obama on Monday could be one of the reasons why. As Huffington Post's Dave Jamieson reports:
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 there’s 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.
Inspired by the actions of fast-food workers,
home care workers have decided to join the movement for higher pay and better rights on the job. In several cities, both nonunion and union home care workers will join striking fast-food workers, as the Fight for $15 spreads to a new, fast-growing service industry.
Thursday’s strike comes a little more than a month after the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel determined that, despite McDonald’s repeated claims, the company is a joint employer that exerts substantial power over its employees’ working conditions.
Follow all of the action on strike day at www.strikefastfood.org and on Twitter using the hashtag #StrikeFastFood.