San Diego joins 150-city strike as worker campaign spreads across the globe to three dozen countries and six continents

By Staff

The fast food industry is an issue that isn’t going away.  Front line fast food workers in San Diego are living in poverty while working in a $200 billion industry.  San Diego workers are calling for $15 an hour wages and the right to form a union without retaliation.  Employees from McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger-King will be joined by the Interfaith Center for Worker Justice board members and community supporters on Thursday May 15 at two strike locations:

WHERE: Burger King, 3676 Market St.
WHEN: Thursday, May 15, action begins at 6:00 am

WHERE: Burger King, 6401 Balboa Ave.
WHEN: Thursday, May 15, action begins at 12:15 pm

Stand beside the striking workers on May 15!

San Diego fast food workers aren’t alone.  In the US, strikes are expected in cities from Los Angeles to Boston, including the first-ever walkouts in Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, Philadelphia and Sacramento, as the campaign for $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation grows. Around the world, fast-food employees are planning major protests in at least 33 countries, spanning 80 cities, including in Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Malawi, Morocco, New Zealand, Panama, and the United Kingdom.

A campaign that started in New York City in November 2012, with 200 fast-food workers striking demanding $15 and the right to form a union without retaliation, has since spread to more than 150 cities in every region of the country, including the South—and now around the world. The growing fight for $15 has been credited with elevating the debate around inequality in the U.S. When Seattle’s mayor proposed a $15 minimum wage earlier this month, Businessweek said he was “adopting the rallying cry of fast-food workers.”

As it spreads, the movement is challenging fast-food companies’ outdated notion that their workers are teenagers looking for pocket change. Today’s workers are mothers and fathers struggling to raise children on wages that are too low. And they’re showing the industry that if it doesn’t raise pay, it will continue to be at the center of the national debate on what’s wrong with our economy.

Earlier this year, workers in three states filed class-action suits against McDonald’s alleging widespread and systematic wage theft. And in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McDonald’s said worker protests might force it to raise wages this year. With shareholder meeting season upon us, and a recent report showing the industry has by far the largest disparity between worker and CEO pay, scrutiny on fast-food companies is bound to intensify. USA Today called the growing worker movement, “the issue that just won’t go away” for the fast-food industry