— PRESS ADVISORY, December 3, 2013— 100 CITIES, 100 FAST-FOOD STRIKES “$15-an-hour and a union!” On December 5, 2013, low-wage fast-food workers are planning one-day strikes in 100 cities across the U.S. Support rallies will be held in an additional 100 cities, including in Ellsworth. Maine. Strikers will be demanding $15-an-hour, and also that employees be allowed to unionize (a legal right) without the threat of retaliation. Fast food is a $200 billion a year industry, yet many of its workers earn minimum wage or slightly more. In contrast, restaurant CEO pay was 788 times higher than employee earnings across the sector in 2012, with the CEO at McDonald’s earning $14 million. The average age of a fast-food worker is 29. More than one-fourth are parents raising children. With such poverty-level wages and few, if any, benefits, workers in the industry are often reliant on public programs to feed their families or see a doctor. A new UC Berkley study finds that 52 percent of the front-line fast-food workers who earn less than a living wage are receiving some form of public subsidy. The National Employment Law Project has found that the country’s top ten fast-food chains cost taxpayers an estimated $3.8 billion in public assistance annually. Thursday’s action at McDonald’s is sponsored by Ellsworth’s Community Union coalition. “When the richest retail and fast-food giants dish out poverty wages, hard- working employees have little money to spend in the local economy, which hurts us all. We think it’s time to start paying fast-food and retail workers a living wage.” CONTACTS for COMMUNITY UNION: John Curtis 667-4877; Ann Roberts 669-2662; Cindy Post 460-1880 McDonald’s in Ellsworth 259 High St. 1:00 p.m. – Thursday – December 5
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 18:56:33 +0000
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