California fast-food workers hold one-day strike over minimum wage, working conditions
Fast-food workers went on a one-day strike in Sacramento, Oakland, Los Angeles and 13 other cities across the nation on Friday, marking the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and demanding a national minimum wage of $15 an hour.
The strike comes a day after President-elect Joe Biden unveiled his COVID-19 economic stimulus package that calls for the nation to immediately have a $15 an hour minimum wage.
The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour, while the minimum wage in California is at $14 an hour for large employers and $13 an hour for smaller ones. California is gradually increasing is minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2023 under a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2016.
But those striking in Sacramento said their movement also goes beyond fighting for higher wages.
“Since day one of our movement in the Golden State, we have demanded a seat at the table and a stronger voice on the job,” said Rosana Santillan, a Sacramento Burger King worker and a protest leader, in a press release. “We won’t stop fighting, marching, and raising our voices until every worker wins $15 an hour and union rights.”
The workers and legislators held a press conference Friday, announcing a bill that would create an industry-wide workplace standard for workers at large chain fast-food restaurants. The detail of the bill has yet to be fleshed out, but it intends to give workers more voice in shaping their workplace’s policies, said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, who introduced the bill.
“We’re going to continue to push and push back against the narrative... that people working fast food are somehow temporary workers; that they are young and in high school. We know that’s not true,” she said.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 3:46 PM.
