Atlanta Fast Food Workers Set to Protest For Wage Increase

By Tom Edathikunnel and Deb Belt

A dash to grab fast-food may not be so fast across the Atlanta area Thursday, as some workers at Burger King and other restaurants say they will strike in an effort to gain increased wages.

The group ATL Raise Up says it will rally at 11 a.m. Thursday at 23 Joseph E Lowery Blvd SW in Atlanta to press for better pay and the right to form a union. Organizers said on Facebook: “Fast food workers and allies from across Atlanta are gathering together on December 4 to fight for living wages, respect, and rights on the job!”

Police are preparing as workers demand higher wages. From Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York City, Detroit, and Chicago, workers nationwide are seeking an increase in wages to $15 an hour.

A vast majority of fast-food workers make minimum wage, $8 an hour, with no benefits. Compounding the problem of low pay, many employees are technically part time and receive less than 40 hours a work week.

The “Fight for 15” group, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, is planning a national fast food worker protest for Thursday, December 4. Fast food workers in over 150 cities will walk off the job in hopes of receiving higher pay, according to SrikeFastFood.org, the movement’s homepage.

A woman identified on the ATL Raise Up Twitter feed as Angela says she has worked for an Atlanta Burger King for 15 years. She plans to protest because after more than a decade she is paid $7.35 an hour, and has no retirement or health benefits.

Atlanta’s busy Hartsfield-Jackson Airport could also be affected, since baggage handlers, ticket agents and aircraft and airport cleaners say the support the efforts by fast-food and home care workers.

Forbes reports that the CEOs of Delta, American, JetBlue, United, Southwest and Alaska airlines were told that “as airport workers we have pledged to stand together with people who work in home care and fast food to fight for $15 an hour wages. Like fast food workers and home health care aids in this fight, we face a struggle to survive while making poverty wages,” the airport service workers said.

Additionally, workers are also demanding the right to form a union, ensuring that fast food employees across the country will receive adequate wages and benefits.

Since 2012, strikes by fast food workers striving for high wages have become increasingly common. Earlier this year workers planned a simultaneous demonstration in which they protested in front of a New York City McDonald’s locations. Protests continued in September, this time in over 100 cities across the country, according to Eater.

Rallies and sit-ins occurred throughout McDonald’s restaurants in numerous cities including Rockford Il; Hartford Ct and Boston. Police arrested over 100 hundred protesters, including 19 workers in New York, 42 in Detroit, 23 in Chicago, 11 in Little Rock, and 10 in Las Vegas, according to the LA Times.

In September, Chicago protestors blocked a street, forcing police to reroute traffic, according to a CBS News report. Cars were declined to pass and police eventually arrested at least four demonstrators.

A wage increase will invariably affect the fast food industry. Stephen J. Calderia, president of the International Franchise Association estimated in the New York Times that a $15 wage increase would lead to a 25 to 50 percent increase in food prices. “Increasing the cost of labor would lead to high prices for the consumer, lower foot traffic and sales for franchise owners, and ultimately lost entry-level jobs.”

The protests continue to gain momentum as both Seattle and San Franciscohave voted to raise their minimum wages to $15.

Image: Andrew Burton/Getty Images and screenshot from ATL Raise Up Twitter feed