Fast-Food Workers Plan Global Strike For May 15

Fast-food workers are angered about their pay rate and are taking action to get the wage they believe they deserve. They plan to showcase just how adamant they are by planning a global strike for May 15 â€" a date that also mirrors the $15 per hour wage they are demanding. On that same date, workers from dozens of countries on six continents will hold protests at McDonald’s, Burger King, and KFC fast-food restaurants per USA Today. The event has even sparked its own hash tag on social media, encouraging people to hash tag #fastfoodglobal as they support their cause.

While it is not immediately known just how many workers will strike, it is predicted that thousands of the nation’s estimated 4 million fast-food workers are expected to take part in the one-day strike.

Fast-food workers globally are planning a strike for May 15, 2014. Image courtesy of Facebook.

“We’ve gone global,” said Ashley Cathey, a McDonald’s worker from Memphis, Tenn., who earns $7.75 an hour after six years at the job. “Our fight has inspired workers around the world to come together.”

Workers from dozens of countries on six continents have banded together to push for increased pay and worker rights, as it was announced Wednesday at a press conference outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Midtown Manhattan by Fast Food Forward, which represents U.S. fast-food workers.

This problem isn’t entirely new; in fact it seems to be an issue that ceases to go away. It is expected to be discussed further later this month when McDonald’s hosts its annual shareholders meeting on May 22, in Oak Brook, Ill. While he hasn’t specifically address fast-food workers, President Obama has called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, and earlier this year signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 for individuals working on new federal service contracts.

In the U.S., strikes are expected to include the first walkouts in Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia, and Sacramento. Outside the U.S., protests are expected to arise in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, and Central America.