Over One Hundred Arrests Made at McDonald’s Headquarters In Fight to Unionize

A crowd of fifteen hundred to two thousand protesters demonstrated outside McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois on May 21st demanding higher wages and the right to unionize. 138 of the demonstrators were arrested, many of them McDonald’s employees in uniform. The protests were organized to draw attention to the low wages fast food employees earn. The demonstrators are calling for the right to unionize. In addition, they are seeking higher wages than the paltry eight or nine dollars an hour a typical McDonald’s employee is compensated.

Fast food workers were joined by labor leaders and clergy members, in their efforts to highlight McDonald’s low wages. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) president Mary Kay Henry was arrested at the demonstration. The protests come at a time when many lawmakers in various states and municipalities are pushing to raise the minimum wage to a more livable standard. McDonald’s corporation has often employed the advertising slogan “you deserve a break today” as part of its marketing effort, but clearly they have no intention of giving their low-wage employees a break, as protesters were greeted with handcuffs rather than promises of better pay.

Minimum wage increases in the United States have not kept pace with rising productivity, and the gap between employee pay and CEO compensation continues to grow. The purchasing power of the minimum wage today is lower than it was nearly half a century ago during the 1960s. Opponents of a minimum wage increase often argue that low-wage jobs are just starter jobs for kids in High School to use as spending money, but the truth is 88 percent of people who would benefit from a minimum wage increase are twenty years of age or older. Many of the fast food workers who demonstrated at McDonald’s headquarters, and who are asking for a pay increase, depend upon their wages to support a family. They deserve a break, and it is time that they get one.

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Keith Brekhus

Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master's Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick's successful re-election bid in Arizona's 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.

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