NEW YORK -- Quick-service restaurant (QSR) workers rallied in U.S. cities on Wednesday to demand higher pay, using the April 15 federal income tax deadline to publicize their claim that they cannot survive on the hourly wages paid by many U.S. corporations, reported Reuters.
The protests demanding pay increases to $15 an hour kicked off at dawn outside a McDonald's Corp.-owned restaurant in New York with several hundred demonstrators.
Marching behind a banner reading "Raise wages, Raise the city," protesters carried placards that read "Fight for $15 on 4/15."
In Chicago, hundreds of protesters rallied at the University of Illinois, their ranks swelled by healthcare and college workers.
Plans called for rallies to be held in 230 cities across the United States.
Organizers said they chose to mobilize on April 15, “tax day,” to highlight their complaint that many workers must rely on public assistance.
The campaign for a living wage has been building on low-paid workers' position that the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour is not enough to lift them from poverty.
Fast-food and retail chains are starting to respond, but their wage increases are generally less than organizers demand, said the report.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. this year said it would raise its minimum pay to $9 an hour in April, and $10 in 2016. Target and T.J. Maxx said they would increase pay to $9 an hour. McDonald's has said it will raise hourly pay at company-owned stores to $9, but this does not affect the more than 90% of its approximately 14,000 U.S. locations operated by franchisees.
"We respect people's right to peacefully protest, and our restaurants remain open every day with the focus on providing an exceptional experience for our customers. Recently, McDonald's USA announced a wage increase and paid time off for employees at its company-owned restaurants and expanded educational opportunities for eligible employees at all restaurants. This is an important and meaningful first step as we continue to look at opportunities that will make a difference for employees,” Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's said in a statement obtained by USA Today.
Not everyone is so sympathetic, the report said.
"The protests aren't about wages or working conditions, they are about promoting [Service Employees International Union’s] campaign to unionize the fast-food industry,” said Glenn Spencer, vice president of the Workforce Freedom Initiative for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a statement obtained by the newspaper. “Yet after investing two years and at least $30 million in these PR stunts, the SEIU still struggles to find actual employees to participate, let alone express an interest in joining a union.”
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