More than half of families of fast food workers receive some sort of public assistance, costing the nation $7 billion a year, according to a new report distributed by a group that has been pushing for union representation and higher wages for fast food workers. Fast food workers earn an average of $8.69 an hour, and often work fewer than 40 hours a week, qualifying them for food stamps, Medicaid and tax credits, according to the report, written by economists at UC Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
September 3, 2013
Re "Fast-food workers rally," Business, Aug. 30 Bravo to the fast-food workers who are at long last demanding a decent standard of living. It is important for all of us to understand the reality that their jobs are no longer the province of high school kids who want more purchasing power than they get from their allowances. More and more of these jobs go to adults who in an earlier generation had jobs that paid well and provided benefits - jobs that are no more. Let me make a modest proposal: Instead of tying the minimum wage to state law, let us tie that wage to corporate profits.
August 29, 2013 |
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK - In the aftermath of the recession, hundreds of workers in low-wage industries have tried to call attention to how difficult it is to survive on the minimum wage. Thursday might have been their biggest effort yet. Fast-food workers in an estimated 60 cities protested outside 1,000 stores, turning out at the crack of dawn to call for union representation and a wage of $15 an hour. Organizers of the effort, bankrolled largely by the SEIU and promoted by a slew of community groups, said it was the largest protest ever to hit the fast-food industry.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
August 29, 2013 |
Fast-food protests that started in New York spread to Los Angeles and other cities across the nation Thursday as workers called for higher wages and the chance to unionize. Dozens of fast-food workers and supporters marched outside a South Los Angeles Burger King at 6 a.m., chanting their demand for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. Holding signs with slogans such as “Burgers and Lies,” “Yo Quiero $15,” and “Lovin' a Living Wage,” they began moving into formation before sunrise, headlights speeding by on the 110 Freeway behind the restaurant in the Brodway-Manchester neighborhood.
August 28, 2013 |
Ahead of planned picketing by fast-food workers seeking $15-an-hour minimum wage, experts are pondering whether McDonald's, KFC and their quick-service ilk are strong enough to support such a drastic change. Data from research group Sageworks suggests that fast-food eateries are in a strong financial position, enjoying a relatively high 4.6% profit margin. Between August 2012 and 2013, the segment grew sales at its highest rate since the recession, enjoying a 12.9% boost, according to the group.
John Galardi has died, placing a period on one of the fast-food industry's greatest rags-to-riches stories. The Wienerschnitzel founder once said, simply: "I had to be wealthy. " At age 19, the Midwestern boy of humble origins had never eaten out or taken a vacation. At 25, he was a millionaire. In a 2012 article, the Los Angeles Times' Tiffany Hsu outlined Galardi's rise in the industry, writing: "John Galardi knows his own mind and isn't afraid of hard work. " Galardi himself said: "I realized really young that what I wanted in life was to do what I want in the way that I want.