Strike spotlights fast-food wages (Time to stand up for low-wage workers)
On May 10, some of the lowest-paid, least-respected workers in Metro Detroit stood up for themselves by going on strike.
The fast-food workers who staged a one-day walk-out almost certainly did not expect employers to quickly grant them their requested $15-per-hour wage. But the strikers brought needed attention to the plight of low-wage workers in Michigan and elsewhere. Good for them.
It is easy for people to ridicule losers who do hard, dirty jobs at $7.40 per hour. Since the strike, I have heard and read a lot of that. Here at The Detroit News, a number of online comments were supportive of the strike, but most expressed some combination of amusement, anger or disgust.
Much of the derision on the News website and elsewhere stemmed from a mistaken belief that fast-food jobs are for high-school kids who want to earn pocket money. Other people coolly responded that, if workers are earning $7.40 per hour in a free market, that must be what they are worth. Still other comments were not worth mentioning.
More here:
http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2013/05/13/strike-raise-fast-food-wages/