News / Society

Thousands of US fast-food workers call for pay raise in Chicago

Thursday, 21 May 2015 8:19 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 21 May 2015 8:25 AM ]

Protesters rallied in Oak Brook outside McDonald's headquarters May 20, 2015.

Thousands of fast-food workers in the United States have called for a pay raise and a union during a protest outside McDonald's headquarters in Chicago.

The workers shut down at least one building on the corporate campus on Wednesday and they called for pay of $15 per hour.

People carried signs declaring, "We are worth more."

Rev. William Barber of Goldsboro, North Carolina, called the demonstration a fight for racial equality, saying people of color are disproportionally working in low wage jobs.

The fast-food workers started their protests in late 2012, but they have not been successful yet.

A worker at Chicago McDonald's said he makes $8.25 an hour and that is not enough to live on after rent and utilities are paid.

"I feel like they don't understand what it's like to make what we make," Corey Anderson was quoted as saying by the Associate Press.

Another worker said she has been working at the restaurant for seven years.

"I just can't live on $7.65," Bettie Douglas said. "I see the money that McDonald's makes and they make billions and billions, but our paychecks seem to be getting smaller. I feel like they're being very unfair and greedy."

Police arrested almost 100 protesters for trespassing as they blocked two streets around the fast-food chain’s campus.

McDonald's announced earlier this year that it would increase its starting pay for workers to $1 above the local minimum wage.

However, critics said the move falls short because it only applies to company-owned stores.

"We're here to tell McDonald's and its shareholders to invest in the company and its workers instead of wealthy hedge fund managers and executives," Kwanza Brooks, a member of the Fight for 15, said.

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