Fast Food Workers Demand 'Super-Sized' Wages
WARREN (WWJ) - "Hold the burgers, hold the fries — make our wages super sized!" chanted protesters, who say today's minimum wage is not a living wage.
The vocal group rallying outside a McDonald's restaurant on Van Dyke at 9 Mile Road Wednesday morning want $15 an hour.
Leading the charge was Pastor W. J. Rideout, of Good Jobs Now, who said these fast food giants are making a killing while their workers are starving.
"They're making $200 billion a year, and they are the fastest-growing retail, but they are the lowest-paid. That says something," Rideout said. "And since inflation has gone up, minimum wage has not gone up, and that's a crying shame.
He added, "We have 122 fast food chains across the metro Detroit area; that's 53,000-plus fast food workers getting $7.45 an hour, which is ridiculous."
Denise Stitt, a Detroit mother of three, works at Taco Bell.
"I only get paid $8.09 ... after five years. And I just got a 22-cent raise," Stitt said.
She told WWJ Newsradio 950's Mike Campbell a significant wage hike would change her life.
"It would help me get caught up on my bills. I could buy more stuff for my children; I could take them places. I could buy stuff for myself," she said. "It's hard out here."
Similar protests were planned Wednesday in seven Michigan cities from Flint to Detroit.
