Fast food workers and their supporters in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013. The Tampa rally is part in a 100-city strike organized across the U.S. seeking to promote a living wage for food service jobs. (Daniel Wallace/Tampa Bay Times/MCT)
With over 50 cities impacted, employees from fast-food chains such as Taco Bell, McDonalds, Wendy’s and other fast-food restaurants are demanding a $15 an hour wage for workers. Staging one-day strikes in over 100 different cities, the employees hope to get their point across.
“There’s been pretty huge growth in one year,” said Kendall Fells, one of the movement’s main organizers. “People understand that a one-day strike is not going to get them there. They understand that this needs to continue to grow.”
Industry officials say that only a small percentage of fast-food jobs pay the minimum wage and that those are largely entry-level jobs for workers under 25.
Backers of the movement for higher pay point to studies saying that the average age of fast-food workers is 29 and that more than one-fourth are parents raising children.
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Which then raises the question who is right and who is wrong? Is it the fast-food industries fault that people are working at entry level jobs to support their families? Should someone that flips burgers and drops fries in hot oil really be paid $15-an-hour? Entry level jobs involving people who have an education don’t even pay that much, so why do these employees feel as if they are entitled to earn more, with only a high school diploma? I thought that was the whole part of life, striving for better, working towards upward mobility, not staying complacent and working hard for the things we want in life. Isn’t that the American way?
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I'm Brianna I just moved to San Diego, this year. My major is Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. I plan to transfer to San Diego State next Fall.
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