In 1996, Thomas Friedman put forward a grand theory of capitalism, economic development and foreign relations: "No two countries that both have a McDonald's have ever fought a war against each other." (He was, by the way, totally wrong.)

The unifying power of McDonald's took on a new meaning on Thursday, however, as thousands of fast-food workers across the globe began to walk off the job or hold protests against McDonald's and other fast-food employers. The coordinated action is the latest escalation in the campaign that began in New York City in November 2012, when about 200 fast-food workers went on strike to demand hourly wages of $15 and the right to form a union.



The so-called "Fight for 15" spread across the US, thanks to backing from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) – and organizers expect strikes and protests in 150 US cities and at least 33 countries on Thursday.



With 1.8m employees in 118 countries, McDonald's is certainly a grand unifier; only Walmart employs more private-sector workers worldwide. But instead of dishing out peace and prosperity the way Friedman and other proponents of neoliberalism promised, McDonald's has been spreading low wages, abusive conditions and union-busting.



In Brazil, the Food and Hospitality Workers Union (Sinthoresp) has been battling McDonald's over issues including wage theft, poverty-level pay and mistreatment of pregnant workers. Demonstrations were planned for Thursday at McDonald's in five Brazilian states. Fast-food workers in Japan will protest at 30 McDonald's locations in 30 prefectures, calling for an hourly wage of ¥1,500 – about the equivalent of the US $15 per hour. In South Korea, a protest was planned in front of a major Seoul McDonald's.



South Korean labor leader Cheong Ok-soon explained the action to the local press:

Everywhere you go in the world, fast-food workers are suffering with low wages, long hours and unstable employment. They can't live a normal life under the working conditions they face now, so they have no option but to fight in solidarity.

This kind of global solidarity work between unions appears to be growing. In some cases, US-based unions even attempt to leverage the higher standards in other countries to push for similar treatment in the US – a reversal of the longstanding tactic of US activists pressuring companies like Nike to improve working conditions abroad. One example of this was when organized workers in VW's German works council pushed for unionization of the German automaker's plant in Tennessee.



Other campaigns seek to tie oppressive practices abroad to US-based corporations back here, in order to tarnish the image of the companies with their own customers. For instance, the union behind the organizing efforts at Walmart stores in the US raised money to bring Bangladeshi garment worker organizer Kalpuna Akter to Bentonville, Arkansas for the corporation's annual shareholder meeting in 2013. The campaign wanted to highlight the connection between the working conditions in domestic retail locations and international sweatshops: in both cases, workers suffer to produce corporate profits.



Friedman wasn't entirely wrong about McDonald's ability to connect people, though. The spread of global corporations like McDonald's has united people across the globe by providing far-flung workers with common enemies. So while it's too early to tell if or when the global day of protest will prompt real change in the fast-food industry worldwide, here's hoping that the people behind the protests are just getting started.