Fast food workers in New York City protested outside New York City restaurants Thursday demanding $15 per hour, almost double the current statewide average rate of $8.25 per hour. Protestors also want to be unionized.
The day of picketing was organized by a coalition of unions and Richard Trumka, the national president of the AFL-CIO, said the unions supported the action. "They're being mistreated, they're being underpaid, they're going to stand together until they get fair treatment and we're going to stand with them."
Winning such concessions will be difficult. Low-wage, low-skill workers lack political clout and face much higher unemployment than college graduates, yet the unions see this as an opportunity to add members to what is a shrinking union membership nationally.
The reality the impact of nearly doubling the average pay-rate seems to be above the understanding of those supporting this action. A hike of that amount alone is a jobs killer. Add to that the additional costs of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on businesses and the job loss would be staggering.
"Any additional labor cost can negatively impact a restaurant's ability to hire or maintain jobs," said Scott DeFife, executive vice president of policy and government affairs at the National Restaurant Association.
The walk outs were scheduled to coincide with the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was shot in Memphis on April 4, one day after he delivered his famous "I've been to the mountaintop" speech in support of striking sanitation workers.
There have been attempts to unionize the fast food industry over the last several decades, but they have failed. One of the reasons for the failure is the high turnover rate of labor in the industry.
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