FAST-FOOD PROTESTERS CUFFED AT HIGHER-PAY RALLIES

[WestVirginiaRebel]

AP:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Police handcuffed dozens of protesters who blocked traffic in dozens of cities across the country on Thursday in their latest attempt to escalate efforts to get McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food companies to pay employees at least $15 an hour.

 

The protests, which were planned by labor organizers for about 150 cities nationwide throughout Thursday, are part of a campaign called "Fight for $15."

 

Since the efforts began in late 2012, organizers have switched up their tactics every few months to bring attention to the protests, which have attracted spotty crowds. Organizers previously said they planned to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience on Thursday, which they predicted might lead to arrests.

 

In New York, 19 people were arrested on Thursday for blocking traffic, with at least three people wearing McDonald's uniforms taken away by police officers after standing in the middle of a busy street near Times Square. About two dozen protesters were detained in Detroit after they wouldn't move out of a street near a McDonald's restaurant. Others were apprehended by police in Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami and Denver.

 

In Milwaukee, Democratic U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore was taken away in handcuffs by police for blocking traffic at a McDonald's.

 

"I take great pride in supporting Milwaukee workers as they risk arrest in pursuit of a brighter tomorrow for their families," Moore said in a statement through her communications director, Eric Harris.

 

Tyree Johnson also was among those hauled away in Chicago. Johnson earns $8.45 an hour after working at a Chicago McDonald's for more than two decades. "I've been there 22 years and I can't help my family," he said.

 

The "Fight for $15" campaign, which is backed financially by the Service Employees International Union and others, comes at a time when the wage gap between the poor and the rich has become a hot political issue. Many fast-food workers do not make much more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which adds up to about $15,000 a year for 40 hours a week.

________

 

This is what robots are for...

[Cyber_Liberty]

 

Tyree Johnson also was among those hauled away in Chicago. Johnson earns $8.45 an hour after working at a Chicago McDonald's for more than two decades. "I've been there 22 years and I can't help my family," he said.

 

I think I might see a problem, and I don't think it's fair to pin all the blame on the evil Capitalists for this one.

[SrWoodchuck]

This is a good idea....for Marxist bastids that want to destroy capitalism & "protect the health" of the slaves people proletariat.

 

Estimated 30% drop in fast food purchases. Then again.....they didn't build that business.......

 

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2014/09/super-sized-inflation-what-15-minimum.html#more

 

 

Via DougRoss@Journal

[Geee]

Big labor spending big bucks on co-ordinated fast food protests

 

Protests outside fast food restaurants flared up in cities around the country Thursday, organized by groups with plenty of ties to prominent labor unions. The front groups organizing the protests — with names like Citizens Action of New York and Fast Food Workers United — use a mix of Occupy Wall Street populism and Big Labor tactics to draw attention to their cause.

 

But the real goal seems to be drawing more members into the union, rather than generating better working conditions for America’s legions of burger-flippers.

 

The Service Employees International Union, or SEIU, is one of the biggest backers of the effort to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour and to unionize fast food workers. The union is heavily invested in the effort, having spent more than $38 million, directly and indirectly, in 2013 alone.

http://watchdog.org/168785/fast-food-protests-seiu/

[Valin]

Reasons To Raise The Minimum Wage....A Morality Tale

[Geee]

This came up in the Burke/Walker debate last night. Walker said he was trying to improve grants to trade schools and junior colleges so that people could 'improve' themselves in to better jobs. Burke said higher wages would improve the economy because people would have more money to spend.