Via today's New York Times:
The next round of strikes by fast-food workers demanding higher wages is scheduled for Thursday, and this time labor organizers plan to increase the pressure by staging widespread civil disobedience and having thousands of home-care workers join the protests.
The organizers say fast-food workers — who are seeking a $15 hourly wage — will go on strike at restaurants in more than 100 cities and engage in sit-ins in more than a dozen cities.
But by having home-care workers join, workers and union leaders hope to expand their campaign into a broader movement.
cont..
“They’re going to use nonviolent civil disobedience as a way to call attention to what they’re facing,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which has spent millions of dollars helping to underwrite the campaign. “They’re invoking civil rights history to make the case that these jobs ought to be paid $15 and the companies ought to recognize a union.”
President Obama, in a Labor Day speech in Milwaukee, mentioned the fast-food campaign, saying, “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.”
Mr. Obama added that if he had a service-sector job, and “wanted an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, I’d join a union.”
So it looks like President Obama himself is playing a central role in this 21st century workers uprising.
More via Guardian Uk 2hrs ago:
The rally comes after the National Labor Relations Board defined McDonald’s as a joint employer of the restaurants run by its franchisees. The decision came after the SEIU brought several cases against the company, alleging it acted as an employer.
The decision, which is being heavily challenged, could bring McDonald’s to the negotiation table over wages and benefits. The company has insisted, and continues to insist, that its franchisees, not the corporation, are responsible for wages.
Should the NLRB’s decision be ratified, SEIU would be able to unionize McDonald’s operations on a larger scale, rather than targeting a few franchises at a time.
Remember people: this Thursday show support for all Fast-Food & Home Care workers!