Subject: [SocialistWorker.org] Striking the fast-food giants
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http://socialistworker.org/2012/12/03/striking-the-fast-food-giants
Analysis: Peter Rugh
======== STRIKING THE FAST-FOOD GIANTS =======================================
Peter Rugh reports from New York City on a day of walkouts at fast-food
restaurants--another step in what organizers call the largest union drive in
fast-food history.
December 3, 2012
WHILE THE emblems of Wendy's, McDonald's, KFC, Domino's and other greasy
dynasties are hard to escape in the American landscape, those who cook,
clean, ring up orders and otherwise serve as the fulcrum of these franchises
often go unnoticed.
These workers, however, were hard to miss on November 29 as they stepped off
burger assembly lines across New York City and into the street, picketing in
front of their workplaces. The strike, which took place at numerous
restaurants across the city, is the start of the largest effort to unionize
fast-food workers in American history. Organizers are calling the campaign
Fast Food Forward [1].
Revenues in the fast-food industry are expected to near $200 billion this
year [2]. Yet the demands of their workers are modest: $15 an hour and the
right to unionize with the Fast Food Workers Committee.
"We're out here for better wages, better working conditions and union
protection," said Michael, an 18-year-old employee of a Burger King located
not far from Wall Street. Michael says that growing up he was encouraged to
"go the right way and get a job," but now that he has a job, he's having
trouble getting by. "There's people my age who try to let this stabilize
them. We got bills, we got rent. We're living from check to check, hoping the
next one will be better, and it's not. We can't live on this."
Gregory, an East Harlem KFC worker several years older than Michael, said he
and his coworkers earn minimum wage ($7.25 an hour), receive food stamps and
still don't have enough to get by and provide for their kids. Gregory lives
in Rockaway, Queens--an area that was inundated with floodwaters from
Superstorm Sandy. When he sought back pay from his employer for time lost
during the storm, his request was denied. He was given a meal on the house
instead.
Working conditions at fast-food franchises tend to be about the same across
the board: highly exploitive. The fast-food industry provides cheap, warm
meals to those pressed for time, who often cannot afford more nutritious
forms of nourishment. Simultaneously, these corporations take advantage of
economic desperation in the Black and Brown, immigrant and working-class
communities where they can get away with paying starvation wages and reaping
gargantuan profits.
Wendy's, for instance, took in $615 million in 2011, an increase of 6
percent. But workers say checks from their employer often bounce, and some
check-cashing outlets won't accept them.
Organizers with New York Communities for Change (NYCC), which has been
working behind the scenes for months to build the strike, say that McDonald's
recruits in homeless shelters. Nearly every "benefit" listed on the company's
website [3], including free uniforms, appears with an asterisk beside it,
indicating that the supposed perks are "subject to availability and certain
eligibility requirements and restrictions." Profits at McDonald's have
ballooned 130 percent in the past four years.
The largest of the fast-food behemoths, McDonald's was also the swiftest to
shift into damage control mode on the day of the walkouts, issuing a
statement informing the public that the company is committed to a dialogue
with their employees "so we can continue to be an even better employer."
Asantewwa Ricks with NYCC said that before she began working on the strike
drive, she thought fast-food employees were "18- or 19-year-old kids who
wanted cash for Beats headphones and True Religion jeans." She has since
learned that is not the case.
Often, workers remain in the industry for years and see little to no bump in
their salary. The minimum wage they receive often forces tough choices on
them, such as whether to work late or to make it back before the shelter
where they reside locks its doors. At an organizing meeting early on in the
campaign, Ricks asked a room full of fast-food workers if they had ever
suffered on-the-job injuries. Just about everyone present lifted up scars
from grease on their arms.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A COALITION of unions and community-based workers' rights groups gathered
ahead of the November 29 strike in a meeting room at the Service Employees
International Union headquarters in Manhattan to discuss ongoing campaigns
seeking dignity and improved pay for the working poor citywide. More than 100
people attended, representing roughly 40 organizations, along with a cluster
of clergy from a variety of faiths.
The coalition had helped spearhead a day of action on July 24 [4], which saw
hundreds of low-wage workers from the city's five boroughs congregate in
Union Square, and it has also been working with car-wash employees demanding
raises above the $5.25 hourly standard--and, in some cases, back pay. Workers
at four car washes have already won union representation in recent months.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who spoke at the July 24 rally, sent an
aide to Tuesday's meeting. Quinn is currently ahead in the upcoming mayoral
race, but she has drawn ire from workers' rights advocates over her
opposition to sick pay legislation. While NYCC is circulating a petition [5]
for her to back the bill, the /New York Daily News/ reports [6] that wealthy
business owners--who have already thrown over a quarter of a million dollars
her way--sent a letter of their own to Quinn, demanding just the opposite.
Jonathan Westin, a lead organizer with NYCC, said while the group disagrees
with Quinn on the issue of sick pay, he views it as a positive sign that she
appears interested in the demands of fast-food workers.
Perhaps seeking an edge on Quinn, two other Democratic contenders for mayor
were on hand, Bill Thompson and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. The
candidates stood in pressed suits at opposite ends of the room, grinning at
one another.
It is with good reason that politicians are showing an interest in the
fast-food workers' fight for a union; bystanders receiving leaflets from
picketers Thursday were widely sympathetic to the cause. "These guys
shouldn't be making 7.25 an hour," said Steve Carlson, a union carpenter.
"That's crazy. Especially in Manhattan--the cost of living is so high."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
STILL, WHILE politicians might lose campaign contributions that sway an
election by standing up for a cause like this, workers could lose their jobs.
By organizing in the workplace, walking off and gambling on solidarity, they
have risked the only means of subsistence available to their families and
themselves. Westin said that since workers began the union drive six months
ago, there have been instances of retaliation from management, but he
declined to elaborate because these cases are currently being dealt with in
court.
For those on strike and their supporters, however, the potential benefits
outweigh the risks. "The goal of this strike is for workers to be able to put
food on their table and buy their children presents for Christmas," Westin
said, though he admits this is a long-term battle and won't be resolved by
the holidays.
The fast-food strike that broke out on November 29 may have larger
implications than are immediately apparent. There are 50,000 fast-food
workers in New York City, and while those who walked off were few in number
by comparison, the strike could galvanize workers elsewhere to take a stand
as well. If the push for a union is successful, it will be an illustrative
example to those both in the industry and in other low-wage professions that
standing up to the boss can pay off.
For Michael and his fellow Burger King employees, walking off the job was
about more than a wage hike or forming a union. These demands are a means to
a higher end. "We work hard, as if we were slaves," he said. "It's not only
the wages. It's also about how we get treated. We deserve respect."
/First published at WagingNonviolence.org [7]/.
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[1] http://www.fastfoodforward.org/
[2] http://www.statista.com/statistics/196614/revenue-of-the-us-fast-food-restaurant-industry-since-2002/
[3] http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/careers/benefits.html
[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcLffvkSud4
[5] http://salsa.wiredforchange.com/o/6245/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6441
[6] http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-10-06/news/34296670_1_sick-leave-bill-sick-days-care-for-sick-kids
[7] http://wagingnonviolence.org/2012/11/strike-launches-largest-union-drive-in-u-s-fast-food-history/
