Mpls. Fast-Food Workers To Strike Tuesday For $15 An Hour
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Fast-food workers in Minneapolis plan to strike and risk arrest Tuesday as part of a nationwide push to raise wages to $15 an hour.
The strike will start at 6 a.m. at the Nicollet Avenue McDonald's on the city's south side, organizers say. Rep. Keith Ellison, who has pushed for workers' rights in the past, will join the striking workers.
In the evening, a "$15 for Families" march is slated to be held at the University of Minnesota, starting at the intersection of 4th Street and 15th Avenue. Organizers say workers and their family members will take to the streets, calling for city leaders to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.
The protest and strike are happening as part of Fight for $15, an organized effort in 340 cities demanding higher wages and union rights for fast-food, airport, child care, retail, and home care workers.
Organizers for Fight For $15 say that since 2012 their efforts have resulted in higher wages in several states and for workers in large corporations, such as Facebook and Aetna.
In Minneapolis, the push for a $15 minimum wage was news over the summer, when a Hennepin County district judge ruled that a wage-raising measure should go on a citywide ballot on Election Day.
That ruling was later reversed by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
