Wage Protests Across the US Could Be Largest Ever
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Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images(NEW YORK) — It could be the largest day of wage protests ever. Fast food workers and others plan to celebrate this Tax Day — April 15 — by staging protests in more than 200 cities across the U.S.
The union-backed protests began in 2012 in New York City and soon spread across the country. The movement that calls itself “Fight for $15” first focused on fast food workers, but morphed into a campaign to more than double the current federal minimum wage for everyone. It’s even been credited for recent bumps in minimum pay for some McDonalds and Walmart workers.
On Wednesday, labor organizers began demonstrating at dawn in Brooklyn, New York.
“I’m fighting for 15 for all of my co-workers, for every fast food worker that’s out there,” said one demonstrator Wednesday morning. “And we’re not going to stop until we get that 15.”
The current federal minimum wage is stuck at $7.25, but more than half the states now require employers to pay more than that — a possible sign this movement is gaining traction.
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