Fast food-workers in 100 cities across the U.S. walked out during the lunch hour on Thursday, to protest their low pay and to call for a living wage.
Mostly led by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), advocacy groups are hoping to whip up public support for raising the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or about $15,000 a year for full-time work.
In metro Orlando fast-food workers protested outside the McDonald’s on Sand Lake Road and International Drive. Workers carried signs and chanted, “We can’t survive on $7.75” and “Hey hey, ho ho, $7.75 has got to go!”
Workers are demanding that the minimum wage to be raised to $15 per hour. Employees in the fast-food industry at companies like McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s and major retailers like Wal-mart, say, they are forced to work two and three jobs to make ends meet and even then, it is still a struggle.
A recent study by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley, revealed that American taxpayers subsidize the fast-food industry to the tune of nearly $7 billion annually, because its jobs pay so little that, 52 percent of fast-food workers are forced to enroll their families in public assistance programs.
In Florida, low wages in the fast-food industry cost taxpayers $348 million annually, the researchers found.
