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number Summary The article Fast-Food Workers Seeking $15 Wage Are Planning Civil Disobedience was written by StevenGreenhouse and published by NYTimes on the 1st of September describes the protest campaign, launched by fast-food workers fighting for a $15 hourly wage.
The protest emerged in the USA not so long ago. For the moment it is manifested in a form of nonviolent civil disobedience which is gathering increasingly greater amount of participants. Very soon the campaign is likely to expand into much broader movement.
The chief demand of the strikers is to increase their minimum hourly wage, which is around 8$ now, up to 15$. Many fast-food workers complain that they are working too hard and can hardly make both ends meet. “We deserve a good life, too” claims Jasmine Almodovar, the protest participant. The organizers expect almost 100 cities to take part into the protest. They are also to engage sit-ins in more than a dozen of cities. One more step is to have home-care workers join. It would definitely let workers and union leaders attract even more attention of great masses of population.
The White House has also been concerned into this issue for a long time. Even
Mr. Obama mentioned the protest in his Labor Day speech in Milwaukee. He said he would certainly join the union if he had a service-sector job.
At the same time, fast-food chains and many franchise operators refuse to meet the claims of the protesters, since so heavy expenses would certainly make their business unprofitable. However, they acknowledge the human right for non-violent protests. Supposedly, it could be possible to increase salaries on a gradual basis. Though, business model of many fast-food corporations might be based on minimum-survival profit. It means that the demands of their employees are unlikely to be satisfied.
Nevertheless, the campaign may be considered fruitful. The protest persuaded many people that $15 is quite an adequate wage for many workers. Certain cities, such as San Francisco, are to adopt such a wage floor in the nearest future. Also Ms. Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union, said that this movement made people believe that the impossible may come true one day.
Works Cited
Greenhouse, Steven. “Fast-Food Workers Seeking $15 Wage Are Planning Civil Disobedience.” NYTimes. Web. 1 Sep., 2014. Read More