Fast-food workers nationwide strike for $15 minimum wage

Fast-food workers in 15 cities around the country will be walking out Friday in a strike for the federal government to increase the national minimum wage to $15 an hour. 

The strike is being organized by Fight for $15 and a union.

“Fast-food workers are going on strike January 15, on what would be MLK’s 92nd birthday, to demand $15/hr and the right to a union! Workers will not back down until everyone makes at least $15!” Fight for $15 tweeted.

Fast-food workers are going on strike January 15, on what would be MLK’s 92nd birthday, to demand $15/hr and the right to a union! Workers will not back down until everyone makes at least $15! #FightFor15 https://t.co/pPgSODMEph pic.twitter.com/c7a5rxkvHg

— Fight For 15 (@fightfor15) January 13, 2021

The group, which is backed by Service Employees International Union, has a petition on its website urging President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris to prioritize minimum wage in their first 100 days in office. 

The petition demands a $15 federal minimum wage, easier rules to join a union, a focus on racial justice, affordable health care, and holding companies accountable for “their failure to protect essential workers on the frontlines of the pandemic.”

“They want to send a message to both the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to prioritize passing $15 an hour (legislation) in the first 100 days,” Allynn Umel, organizing director of Fight for $15 and a Union, told USA Today.

Some of the strikes will take place on Zoom or in car caravans. 

“I make just $10 an hour working at McDonald’s in Memphis, and it’s nowhere near enough to cover basic necessities every month for me and my baby daughter,” a McDonald’s worker going on strike Friday wrote in an op-ed for Business Insider. 

Many argue that an increase to a $15 minimum wage could harm small businesses, especially during the pandemic when they’ve already been struggling. There are some states that are planning to increase their minimum wage in 2021.