Fast-food workers strike, seeking $15 wage, political muscle

Paul Davidson | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Fast-Food workers nationwide strike For $15 minimum wage In the run-up to the 2016 presidential election, low-wage workers are showing their political power in hopes of a minimum-wage increase. Video provided by Newsy

Fast-food workers demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage walked out in hundreds of cities Tuesday, kicking off a campaign to muster the political power of 64 million low-wage workers in next year's presidential election.

The walkouts marked the workers' largest show of force in the three years since they launched a series of rallies to call for higher pay and the right to unionize, according to the advocacy group Fight for $15. The group is backed by the Service Employees International Union.

Tens of thousands of workers and supporters took part in rallies planned for 1,000 cities across the nation, beginning around dawn at McDonald's outlets in New York, Boston and Philadelphia, among other locations. Protests also were taking place for low-paid home care, child care, farm, nursing home and other workers seeking to make their voices heard.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed a demonstration in Brooklyn, saying Fight for $15 has "changed this city, changed this state and changed this nation." New York State has approved a law to gradually increase the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $15.

In Detroit, about 200 workers protested in the early-morning darkness as a cold rain fell outside a McDonald's.

"I'm here to fight for $15 and a union," said Lakecha Jackson, 37, a Detroit mother of two young daughters who earns $8 an hour and has been working at the McDonald's where she and other demonstrators gathered. "That would be a lot for me."

In Boston, Kheila Cox, 38, a $10-an-hour baggage handler at Logan Airport, planned to join an afternoon march from Faneuil Hall to the Massachusetts State House. "It's not just the financial piece, it's also about the dignity," said Cox, who has seven children.

A McDonald's on Stanwix Street in Pittsburgh was shuttered Tuesday morning, a sign on the door reading: "CLOSED due to STRIKE." At another McDonald's outside of Rochester, N.Y., about 30 demonstrators shouted "Hold the burgers, hold the fries, we want our wages supersized!"

In contrast to their nine previous walkouts, the workers this time are putting on an emphatic political stamp. The day-long offensive, including late afternoon parades to local city halls, will culminate with a protest at the Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee on Tuesday night.

Most Republican candidates oppose raising the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25, saying it will hurt job growth.

The National Restaurant Association says a $15 base would force employers to replace workers with technology, such as touch-screen ordering tablets. It says about 90% of restaurants are small businesses that lack deep pockets. "Fifteen dollars is too far, too fast," spokeswoman Christin Fernandez says.

Michael Mabry, chief operating officer of MOOYAH Burgers, Fries, & Shakes, with 76 U.S. franchises, says the chain's workers earn an average $9 to $14 an hour and hiking base pay to $15 would force franchisees to raise prices, cut per-store staffing from six to four workers, or a combination. Outlets, he adds, would not hire teenage workers at that rate, removing an entree into the workforce for many Americans.

Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton recently said she supports a $12 federal pay floor, while Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley favor a $15 minimum. They cite the issue as key to closing the widening gap between rich and poor.

Already an influential political force, the workers plan to use their new-found muscle to sway local, state and national elections exactly 12 months from now and say they'll back any candidate of any party who supports their cause. The Fight for $15 group says it will hold voter registration drives and neighborhood parties to coax the workers to the polls.

A recent survey by the National Employment Law Project found that most unregistered voters would sign up and registered voters would be more likely to vote if a candidate backs a $15 hourly wage -- groups that represents 48 million potential voters.

"People are going to be looking for that in a candidate" and will vote for politicians "that are responsive to their economic well-being," NELP Executive Director Christine Owens says.

Contributing: Frank Witsil in Detroit, Trisha Thadani in Boston, Todd Clausen in Rochester, N.Y., John Bacon in McLean, Va.