Posted on 07/31/2013 6:00:17 AM PDT by IbJensen
More than 100 people were protesting outside a McDonald's in south St. Louis at lunchtime Monday, the first in a series of wildcat strikes and walkouts that are planned to ripple across the region over the next two days.
The protests are part of a national campaign to push for higher wages for fast-food workers and are expected to hit dozens of stores between now and the end of the day Tuesday, culminating in a rally downtown in Kiener Plaza. Workers are advocating for wages of up to $15 per hour, a hike to Missouri's $7.35 per hour minimum wage and the right to form a union without retaliation.
In an interview Monday morning, one of the strikers, 19-year-old Doneshia Babbitt, said she hopes the protests will draw attention to the challenges of making ends meet on jobs that pay less than $8 an hour with no benefits.
"I hope this helps people understand, I hope they get the picture," said Babbitt, who'll be a senior at Jennings High School in the fall, along with her 20-year-old sister, helps support three younger siblings on a job at McDonald's. "A lot of people working these jobs really need the money."
The fast-food protests are being organized by local labor and church groups and are taking place in six other cities this week as well. Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat from the Atlanta area, flew in to lend his support as well and said federal legislation is needed to reform an industry that profits handsomely off the backs of low-wage workers.
"It's obscene," he said, pointing to profits and executive pay at big fast-food companies. "And it's not the kind of system that's working for people."
A spokeswoman for McDonald's referred questions to the National Restaurant Association, which had no immediate comment Monday afternoon.
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Activists and fast-food workers are planning more protests for higher wages this week.
Less than two months after workers walked out of dozens of fast-food restaurants in May, a new round of walkouts and street marches are set to start Monday in the St. Louis area. Organizers say there could be walkouts at as many as 50 stores, and have a rally planned for Kiener Plaza downtown Tuesday afternoon.
The push is part of a broader national campaign for higher wages and better working conditions for fast-food workers. Similar protests are planned this week in at least six other cities, including Chicago and Kansas City.
Rep Hank Johnson sez...
“”It’s obscene,” he said, pointing to profits and executive pay at big fast-food companies. “And it’s not the kind of system that’s working for people.”
Well, if the employees aren’t happy with their $7.50/hr job at McDonald’s, tell them to quit and get a job that pays them $15/hr.
...and what if they DID raise it to $15/hr, Donesha? What makes you think that they need YOU when they’ll now suddenly have a more mature and experienced pool of talent to suddenlychose from? Just be damn lucky that an illegal hasn’t snatched your job. (Oh, what the hell do I know? Full welfare is her better choice.)
“We kinda screwed up once we allowed a huge amount of US industry to pack and leave the country.”
Many off those industries were driven out by high taxes, over regulation and high wages...the exact same thing that’s happening to Kalifornia. And, considering the huge bullseye the current administration has painted on business’s back...I don’t blame them if they never come back.
Yep.
Robots don’t whine. They don’t steal, they don’t call in sick, they don’t protest.
You know as I think about it, human beings, at least the ones of today, ARE EXTREMELY ANNOYING AND STUPID.
This evil posturing for their illiterate voting block makes honest Americans want to puke their guts out!
This entire system of the central socialist government is evil and needs to be lanced as one would lance a boil or a carbuncle. It’s more like an insidious cancer that’s growing within our nation.
All parts and parcels of this government are corrupt and evil and deserves to be stamped out like a forest fire!
Maybe her mother would sort through her memory to discover who might be Doneshia’s father.
AHHHHHHHHH!
I should have known...EXTREMELY ANNOYING AND STUPID PEOPLE WILL BUILD EXTREMELY ANNOYING AND STUPID ROBOTS!
Above is the robot I would build^^
You are 1 for 3. It's the high wages as the international companies search the world to find cheap labor and screw the American workers who they will want to die for them if their holdings get confiscated and then want tax loopholes to screw the American taxpayer some more. They have put money before country.
Simple supply and demand, if the nature of the job is such that anyone can do it with minimal training, that means the supply of workers for that job will be great, thus driving wages down.
“Doneshia” = “Dumb Shit”. If she slurs and mumbles her words like many in her “community” that’s how I’d hear it.
They can raise the price of their burgers by 68 cents, but then I can raise the price of their cell phones, computer systems, and all kinds of things by an equal amount. So they get nothing out of that. The fact is that if you are paid what you are worth then there is no inflation, but if you get greedy then so does everyone else. Liberals are always bad at math. If McD’s has to raise the price of their goods 10% then I raise mine 10% to compensate.
To pay a worker $15/hour that worker will on average have to generate at least $15 worth of revenue from their labor, plus enough to pay benefits, business overhead and a small profit for the owner. To virtually double wages a significant increase in productivity would be needed or a increase in price or a combination of both. Consider how many workers it takes to produce a single Big Mac meal. You have burger friers, french fry cooks, burger assembly people and counter staff, not to mention one or more managers and maintenance staff all to produce about a $5 meal. So how many Big Mac meals would it take per hour at current prices to cover these higher wages?...likely double the current production AND there would have to be enough paying customers to buy this increased production. The nitwit at KU who estimated it would take only a 68 cent increase in meal costs doesn’t have a clue what it costs to make a meal.
What’s ironic in all this is that McDonald’s has been heavily targeting blacks in its advertising.
McDonald’s profit falls flat as consumers tighten their belts
After all the MCD’s talk yesterday I had a craving for a BigMac. So, off we went, and it cost about $15 for two. That’s a high price. Add another $1.50 making it about $16.50 and I wouldn’t bother. I barely bothered at $15. There are much better choices for eating out at that price range.
Bullshirt, the protests are the Unions trying to get another worker class to feed off of because the ones that are higher paid finally figured out the Unions are nothing but leaches. Minimum wage people tend to be not as smart and may serve well as prey. Of course their union dues will adsorb any wage increase they might get and some, but hey, the shop steward gets his new car and that is what counts.
Your #2 post hits the issue right on the head. That is what is going to happen; business always, always seeks to lower its costs, including the costs of dealing in the press with these idiots.
Hey Doneshia, do you think you are qualified for a $15 an hour job?
If McDonalds paid that kind of money, you would not be working there.
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