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Press Release: ST.LOUIS FAST-FOOD WORKERS TO WALK OUT IN BIGGEST-EVER STRIKE TO HIT INDUSTRY

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Thursday, December 4, 2014

CONTACT: Emily Koehler, emilykmsoc@gmail.com, 314-348-1545

 

On Second Anniversary of Fight for $15,

ST.LOUIS FAST-FOOD WORKERS TO WALK OUT IN BIGGEST-EVER STRIKE TO HIT INDUSTRY

 

Local Workers to Join Growing Fight for $15 as Movement for Higher Wages, Union Rights Grows in New Industries

 

Fast-food workers in St. Louis will strike on Thursday, joining a growing movement for $15 an hour and union rights that has spread to 160 cities across the country—more cities than ever before. Two years after New York City fast-food workers sparked a nationwide movement for higher pay and rights on the job, the Fight for $15 continues to grow and gain momentum.

 

Across the country, airport workers will come together with fast-food workers as the Fight for $15 reaches a new low-wage industry in the service-sector. The Home Care Fight for $15 will continue to grow, with the movement doubling in reach since its launch in September. In many cities, home care workers will protest alongside their clients.  And the fast-food strikes will continue to hit new cities, with workers walking off their jobs for the first time in Jackson, Miss., Knoxville, Tenn., and Buffalo, NY.

 

 

WHO:

 

Workers from McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Popeye’s, Domino’s, Church’s, Rally’s, Jack in the Box, Arby’s and other fast-food restaurants.

 

WHAT: Fast-food worker strike in St. Louis

 

WHEN: Thursday, December 4 at 6AM

 

 

The strikes will come one week after Walmart workers led nationwide strikes on and leading up to Black Friday to protest the company’s illegal threats against workers calling for $15 an hour and full-time work. The growing Fight for $15 has been credited with elevating the debate around inequality in the U.S.  Slate called the movement a “stunning success” and wrote that, “dedicated fast-food workers have managed to completely rewire how the public and politicians think about wages.” What seemed like a far-fetched goal—$15 an hour—is now a reality in SeaTac and Seattle, where Bloomberg News said the city adopted “the rallying cry of fast-food workers” and where local low-wage airport workers played a leading role in winning the historic wage increase. In November, San Francisco became the third city in the U.S. to adopt a $15 minimum wage, and since the first strike in 2012, 7.6 million low-wage workers across the country have gotten raises through local ballot measures, city and state legislation and contract negotiations.

 

“The fast-food giants have seemed clumsy, and wrong-footed by the surge of protest,” according to the New Yorker, responding to the workers by telling them to get a second job, sing away their stress and apply for public assistance. But fast-food workers have responded by turning up their movement. At their first nationwide convention in Chicago last summer, they vowed to do whatever it takes to win $15 and union rights, and in September, nearly 500 were arrested during strikes that hit 150 cities. Now, inspired by the bold national actions of fast-food workers, home care and airport workers are joining together for higher pay and union rights.

 

The Fight for $15 is drawing support from key political figures. President Obama praised the fast-food workers, saying in a Labor Day speech that they are, “organizing to lift wages so they can provide for their families with pride and dignity.” And Hillary Clinton applauded them in a speech to leading Democrats, calling the fast-food workers’ fight for higher pay, “a movement that is not waiting for Washington with its gridlock and grandstanding.” The urgent need for solutions to America’s low-wage crisis is already emerging as a key issue in the run-up to the 2016 election. In the New York Times, David Leonhardt wrote, “[a]s the 2016 presidential campaign begins to stir, the central question will be how both parties respond to the great wage slowdown.”

 

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