100 Arrests at McDonald’s HQ

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http://nydn.us/1qWaQaf

MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT Bev Horne/AP Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets near the McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill on Wednesday. More than 100 people were arrested.

Protesters Seeking Higher Pay for McDonald’s: Workers Swarm McDonald’s Corporate Office near Chicago. More than 100 arrested.

REUTERS
Wednesday, May 21, 2014, 7:26 PM

Police on Wednesday arrested more than 100 demonstrators seeking better pay for McDonald’s workers as protesters swarmed the fast-food chain’s corporate campus near Chicago to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to unionize. Continue reading →

On America’s Working Poor

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Posted here: 05/19/2014 8:22 am EDT Updated: 05/19/2014 9:59 am EDT
 By Carl Schwartz, carly@huffingtonpost.com

In a nation that has long operated on the principle that an “American Dream” is available to anyone willing to try hard enough, the term “working poor” may seem to have a bright side. Sure, these individuals struggle financially, but they have jobs — the first and most essential step toward lifting oneself out of poverty, right?

If only it were that simple.

According to 2012 Census data, more than 7 percent of American workers fell below the federal poverty line, making less than $11,170 for a single person and $15,130 for a couple. By some estimates, one in four private-sector jobs in the U.S. pays under $10 an hour. Last month, Senate Republicans blocked a bill that would have raised the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, despite overwhelming public support for the measure.

And these numbers don’t say anything about the many Americans who earn well above the official poverty line and still barely stay afloat. In HuffPost’s “All Work, No Pay” series, the working poor told their own stories, painting a devastating portrait of their day-to-day struggles.

They’re a diverse range of people: single parents, couples with and without children, young women with graduate degrees, business owners, seniors and everyone in between. Their financial situations, however, show many similarities. Jobs generally provide them with the means to barely scrape by, treading paycheck-to-paycheck, earning just enough to keep from going under, swallowing their pride sometimes to take food stamps or visit food banks. Others are entirely out of work, tirelessly seeking employment and relying on other means to survive.

Through their words, we see what it’s really like to be “working poor” in America — and just how much more it looks like rock bottom than most would imagine. Continue reading →

Jennifer Blankenship, 39

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Posted: 02/20/2014 7:30 am EST Updated: 02/20/2014 8:59 am EST
JENNIFER BLANKENSHIP

Jennifer Blankenship, 39, lives in Clarksville, Tenn., and lost her retail position in the fall. Just hired for a new job working from home, she hopes to finish her college degree in the next three years.

From the Huffington Post. By Aliel Edwards-Levy.

My husband and I thought we’d both work retail jobs while I finished my degree. Then I would be the primary breadwinner while my husband went to school. I was closer to finishing my degree, so it made sense. But then life happened.

I worked for an electronics store. I enjoy retail, and I actually loved working there. I was the appliance specialist — I was the go-to person for any trouble they had with appliance orders or anything. I really became their expert.

I ended up having to quit school because it just wasn’t feasible to work full time and go to school, not with young children involved. I don’t think it was necessarily a conscious decision to quit. It just basically boiled down to, “Do we want to eat, or do we want me to finish my degree?” It’s been seven years since I’ve actively been taking classes.

I lost my job in November because of a medical condition called spinal stenosis. It got to the point where I’d have to call out of work and take leave because I was unable to work. Continue reading →

Verizon Store Workers in NY Favor Union

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Communication Workers Union, May 14, 2014

New York –Today, retail store workers at six Verizon Wireless stores in Brooklyn, N.Y., voted for a union voice and representation by the Communications Workers of America.

This vote is a huge victory for these workers and for thousands more across Verizon Wireless who want representation to address their issues on the job. For more than a decade, Verizon has done everything possible to prevent Wireless workers from joining 40,000 Verizon Communications workers and 80 Verizon Wireless technicians who have union representation.

Today’s vote begins to break down that barrier and ensures representation to these retail stores workers. They also join more than 40,000 workers at AT&T Mobility who have organized without fear at their company for nearly two decades. Continue reading →

NY Airport Workers Press for Union

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ByLaura Kusisto, Wall St Journal

May 12, 2014 10:03 p.m. ET

Airport contract workers rallied on Monday at Riverside Church; thousands are interested in joining SEIU. Kevin Hagen for The Wall Street Journal

A majority of 6,100 nonunionized workers at New York City’s three largest airports have turned in cards indicating interest in joining a union, according to a tally conducted Monday at a church on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

The count, done by outside nonprofit groups, showed 4,051 workers had signed cards to join or are already members of 32BJ Service Employees International Union, union officials said. The union plans to seek signatures from more workers and hold demonstrations, building support for a formal vote to organize.

The union drive is directed at workers at La Guardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport who are employed by contractors of the large airlines. Continue reading →

Why do fast-food workers strike?

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No occupation is lower paid across the board, argues this article. Fast-food workers are pressing a demand for pay of at least $15 an hour, far more than the $9 or so that is typical for the industry. Here’s how their wages compare with other jobs in the economy.

By , Christian Science Monitor Staff writer / May 15, 2014

Fast food workers and supporters protest low wages outside a Krispy Kreme store, Thursday, May 15, 2014, in Atlanta.David Goldman/AP

As fast-food workers and labor organizers used a nationwide day of protest to demand pay of at least $15 per hour in the industry, their motivations were summed up in different ways.

Some workers talked of wanting to earn enough to cover more than their rent.

Strike organizers argued that the industry’s typical pay of about $9 an hour is not a “living wage.” (Working 35 hours per week at that rate nets $16,380 per year. Although that’s above the official poverty line for one or two people, it doesn’t go far.)

Selmira Wilson, a protester in Miami who works at McDonalds, said that to support her three children she cleans offices at night “just to get by,” according to a Reuters report.

On top of those, here’s one more factor to tuck into the mix: No occupation out of the more than 1,300 tracked by the US Labor Department is lower paid. Continue reading →

More states, cities raising minimum wage

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Paul Davidson, USA TODAY 6:14 p.m. EDT May 15, 2014

The fast-food walkouts Thursday are part of a broader nationwide effort to raise the minimum wage for millions of low-income workers, a campaign that’s notching growing success in states and cities across the USA.

Supporters say that raising wages would address growing inequality between the rich and poor as the nation continues to recover too slowly from the Great Recession. Opponents say pay hikes would mean lost jobs and could slow a fragile recovery. A bill, backed by President Obama, to raise the federal minimum hourly wage from $7.25 to $10.10 by late 2016, has stalled in Congress due to Republican opposition.

But seven states have passed legislation this year to raise the minimum wage. Four have approved increases to at least $10.10 an hour — Connecticut, Maryland, Hawaii and Vermont. Three others — Minnesota, West Virginia and Delaware — have passed smaller increases. Proposals to increase the minimum wage have been introduced in at least 30 other states, according to the Associated Press. Continue reading →

Tracking the Fast Food Protest

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Alan Pyke and Adam Peck  May 15, 2014
Think Progress
Today is the biggest strike in fast food history and it’s phenomenal. Actions in support of $15/hour wages and the right to form a union without retaliation have spread across the globe. Workers went on strike in 158 American cities, according to FastFoodGlobal.org, including in 56 U.S. cities where there had not been a strike previously, International worker solidarity actions are taking place in 93 international cities spread across 36 countries.

As fast food workers strike in 150 U.S. cities Thursday and solidarity protests spring up in 30 other countries, it’s worth a look back at how their cause grew from a handful of people to a globe-spanning movement. Continue reading →

Fast Food Workers Act Locally, Globally

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Fast food workers undertook job actions of various sort against their restaurants in many cities around the world. Click here.  A video feature on faces of striking workers is here. Video from USA of workers in NY is here.

Forbes magazine offered this,

Fast-food workers strike across U.S.

By Patrick M. Sheridan   @CNNMoney May 15, 2014: 11:24 AM ET

fast food worker strike 051514Fast food workers gathered in New York last week to announce the global strikes that are taking place today.

Fast-food workers walked off their jobs in dozens of cities on Thursday, demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

Union organizers say the strikes will reach 150 U.S. cities and several countries.

Danny Rosa said he started striking at 5 a.m. at the Burger King in Dorchester, Mass., where he works. He and a group of co-workers shouted the slogan, “Fight for $15 and union.”

“I am proud that I am striking and I am trying to get a better life,” Rosa said. “I am fighting for everyone in fast food.”

Rosa planned to travel to downtown Boston later in the morning so he could meet up with other strikers at a Burger King there.

Rosa is 19 years old and lives with his mother and older brother and sister. He wants his hourly wage, now $9 an hour, to go to $15 so he can eventually move out.

Chad Tall who works at Taco Bell, a unit of Yum! Brands, was also striking with other workers outside a McDonald’s in New York.

“We’re here to get $15 and a union, we’re here to strike, we’re here to make some noise and we’re here to disrupt because that’s the only way to get their attention,” Tall said.

Nakiel Clemons said he went on strike this morning outside the Durham, North Carolina, Burger King where he works. He is headed to Raleigh later today.

Nakiel is 33 years old and has a 1-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son. He earns $7.45 an hour and says he can’t survive on that.

“I can’t worry about my manager seeing me on the strike line, I have to speak out.” said Nakiel.

Currently, the median pay for fast-food workers is just over $9 an hour, or about $18,500 a year. That’s roughly $4,500 lower than the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold level of $23,000 for a family of four.

The “Fight for $15” campaign started in New York in November 2012, when 200 fast-food workers demanded $15 and the right to form a union without retaliation.

Union organizers say the movement is credited with elevating the debate about inequality in the U.S. and helping raise the minimum wage in some states.

Earlier this year, workers in three states filed class-action suits against McDonald’s alleging widespread wage theft.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, McDonald’s said worker protests might force it to raise wages this year.