Reprinted from Common Dreams by
In several US cities, fast food workers went on strike Friday to demand a $15 minimum hourly wage and the right to unionize, boosting pressure on President-elect Joe Biden to deliver on his campaign promise to push for the wage increase nationally.
Employees of McDonald’s, Wendy’s and other fast food chains planned to stay away or walk off the job on what would have been Martin Luther King Jr.’s 92nd birthday, USA Today reported Wednesday, citing the Fight for $15 and a Union movement, which organized the strike. …
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who ran for president twice and sponsored raise-the-wage legislation during the last congressional session, also praised the proposal, saying late Thursday that “President-elect Biden has put forth a very strong first installment of an emergency relief plan that will begin to provide desperately needed assistance to tens of millions of working families facing economic hardship during the pandemic.”
“The president-elect’s Covid-relief plan includes many initiatives that the American people want and need, including increasing the $600 direct payments to $2,000, and raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” said Sanders. “As the incoming chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, I look forward to working with the president-elect and my colleagues in Congress to provide bold emergency relief to the American people as soon as possible.” …
