Fast Food Workers Nationwide Strike, Asking For Higher Wages
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Fast food workers in 100 cities across the country, including New York, have walked off the job, demanding a pay raise.
As WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported, a few hundred workers dropped their spatulas and picked up picket signs outside the McDonald's on Broadway and 51st Street, chanting "We can't survive on $7.25."
"New York City is one of the most expensive cities in the country. We barely can survive on that," McDonald's food prep worker Louis Vasquez told Adams. "Five siblings that I live with, I have a single mother that I live with."
Fast Food Workers Nationwide Strike, Asking For Higher Wages
The striking workers are asking for $15 an hour and a right to unionize.
"I'm not going to become wealthy off of that. Minimum wage; I'm not asking for a nice car like these owners, executives have," said Vasquez.
But the industry argues higher wages would cause food prices to go up and would lead to fewer jobs, which give many young people a shot at their first paycheck.
The movement began with a small walkout in New York last year and has since gained momentum.
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