2020 Democrats join striking McDonald’s workers

Multiple Democratic presidential candidates expressed solidarity with striking McDonald’s workers and attended events with them around the country, according to ABC News.

Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) joined striking employees around the country, while Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had to remain in Washington, D.C., to vote for a disaster relief bill, addressed the striking workers via a live town hall and pledged to sign legislation as president to raise the minimum wage and strengthen worker protections.

{mosads}“Today, we live in the wealthiest country in the history of the world. But tens of millions of workers don’t know that, because they’re working longer hours for low wages,” Sanders said during the town hall. “Does anybody think that that is moral, or that is right?”

Castro, meanwhile, joined striking workers in Durham, N.C., Wednesday. “We’re here today to tell McDonald’s that it’s not acceptable to pay your workers a wage you can’t live on,” Castro said, according to ABC. Both Castro’s and Sanders’s campaigns are unionized.

I’m proud to march alongside @McDonalds workers in Durham, NC this morning striking for fairer wages, better conditions, and the right to unionize. I’m going to join workers anywhere they’re fighting for a living wage and safe working conditions. pic.twitter.com/Lox3bhq7dt

— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) May 23, 2019

Inslee appeared with striking workers in Chicago Thursday, tweeting, “Today, I’m proud to be on the strike line with McDonald’s workers in Chicago as they demand the right to a union, safe working conditions, and fair pay. Because that’s what every one of us deserves.”

Today, I’m proud to be on the strike line with McDonald’s workers in Chicago as they demand the right to a union, safe working conditions, and fair pay. Because that’s what every one of us deserves. #FightFor15 pic.twitter.com/TBXjXS2iXp

— Jay Inslee (@JayInslee) May 23, 2019

De Blasio, meanwhile, joined workers in Des Moines, Iowa, and tweeted, “Working people deserve to be paid fair wages for their labor, period.”

Honored to stand with @McDonalds workers in Des Moines today in their #FightFor15. Working people deserve to be paid fair wages for their labor, period. pic.twitter.com/qCUM1OtETB

— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) May 23, 2019

South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) also expressed solidarity with workers at the fast-food giant. Buttigieg posted a video supporting striking workers on Twitter.

Gillibrand, in an editorial in the Dallas Morning News, wrote, “We must ensure that workers’ voices and concerns are heard in boardrooms across America. Unions make us stronger, and they don’t just raise wages for their members — they help raise wages for all working Americans.”

McDonald’s cooks and cashiers are striking in major cities, including Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami, demanding the company respect their right to form a union and raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The company is also facing a spate of sexual harassment complaints, filed against both franchise and corporate-owned locations in 20 cities. Protesters assembled Tuesday outside the company’s Chicago headquarters to call for action on the issue.