Protests planned Thursday in more than 100 cities
Arrests in New York, Chicago, Detroit, St Louis, Las Vegas, San Diego, Indianapolis, Little Rock
Service industry workers union throws weight behind movement
McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, Wendys, Pizza Hut among affected chains
Fast food workers plan biggest US strike over minimum wage
11.44am ET
The president is not stumping for $15 but the White House has come out for a $10.10 minimum wage:
"No one who works full-time should ever have to raise a family in poverty." President Obama #RaiseTheWage #LaborDay pic.twitter.com/KA4PvjCEqS
11.36am ET
Dominic Rushe (@domincru) has been speaking to Arun Ivatury, campaign strategist for National Employment Law Project. Ivatury believes the fight to raise the minimum wage is at a tipping point, Dominic writes pun intended:
We have seen these actions growing for two years. Each time we see one of these actions, its bigger and covers more cities than the last, Ivatury said. There is a long tradition in this country of activism leading to social change.
The scale of the issue was enormous, he said. President Obamas proposal to raise the minimum to $10.10 would impact 28 million people, said Ivatury. Raising it to $15 could impact 50 million workers.
11.31am ET
A protest in Kansas City:
"$15 and a union. If we don't get it? Shut em down" #strikefastfood just now in Kansas City MO http://t.co/e5jnERE9Fh pic.twitter.com/8iehHEnUWY
11.30am ET
Eleven people have been arrested in fast food strikes in San Diego, the local ABC News affiliate reports:
The dozens of workers and their supporters in San Diego held a news conference near a McDonalds in City Heights early this morning, then began marching to nearby Burger King and Jack in the Box restaurants. At one point, they shut down an intersection at University Avenue, over the Interstate 15 freeway.
11.14am ET
Reports of arrests in Little Rock, Arkansas:
10 people arrested in Little Rock during #StrikeFastFood protest after taking the street! pic.twitter.com/xoK2LwNVNu
11.13am ET
Wage action in Boston:
Dignity in the #Fightfor15. Boston #HomeCare15 #StrikeFastFood gather at State House @1199mass #WageAction pic.twitter.com/XeKxIjeQ9C
11.10am ET
#fastfoodstrike: Trending nationally on Twitter:
11.05am ET
A protest march is under way outside a McDonalds in Philadelphia:
#Fastfoodstrike in #philly now marching down Broad St pic.twitter.com/hl4LyRaMJp
10.51am ET
Arrests outside a McDonalds (and across the street from a Papa Johns) in Indianapolis, Indiana:
Police have begun arresting minimum wage protesters at an #Indy McDonald's #Fastfoodstrike http://t.co/IhfIKyNgID pic.twitter.com/uIW2yDiGsQ
10.47am ET
No Egg McMuffins for Oakland today:
The SEIU prez and 300+ #FastFoodStrike peeps shutting down McDonald's on Telegraph in Oakland. pic.twitter.com/5LjY2fxfUw
Protestors at intersection University near I-15 all arrested for blocking intersection #cityheights #Fastfoodstrike pic.twitter.com/sz8otoypuU
10.44am ET
The Guardians Dominic Rushe (@dominicru) notes that todays protests have substantial union backing and that the national unions may be on the verge of a new entry into the fast food industry:
The strike is being backed by SEIU, Service Employees International Union , which represents about 2 million workers across the US, mainly in health care, public services and property services including janitors and security officers.
SEIU has been moving to unionise more fast food workers but at the moment has to do that one franchise at a time because the franchisers are legally the fast food workers employers. That may be about to change. You can read about that heated debate here.
We must do better for our families! Standing up for #15AndAUnion; marching to @McDonalds in Oakland #StrikeFastFood pic.twitter.com/w16VtpR73x
10.39am ET
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger has released a statement in support of the fast food strikes.
We stand in solidarity with the thousands of fast-food workers joining together across the nation to call for an increase in the minimum wage, the statement says in part.
Today, a person working full-time at minimum wage is not able to lift themselves out of poverty. Thats not only morally repugnant, its bad economic policy.
No American should ever go hungry, but it is particularly appalling when those who pick or serve our food do.
10.32am ET
In the debate over what fast food workers are paid and what health care and other benefits they receive, McDonalds has contended that its franchisees the owners who operate individual restaurants are liable for labor and wage issues, not the parent company.
But a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board in July rebutted the argument, when the boards general counsel found that McDonalds could be held jointly liable for violations by franchise operators.
The ruling comes after the labor boards legal team investigated myriad complaints that fast-food workers brought in the last 20 months, accusing McDonalds and its franchisees of unfair labor practices. [...]
The fast-food workers who filed cases asserted that McDonalds was a joint employer on the grounds that it orders its franchise owners to strictly follow its rules on food, cleanliness and employment practices and that McDonalds often owns the restaurants that franchisees use.
Business groups called the [NLRB] decision outrageous. Some legal experts described it as a far-reaching move that could signal the labor boards willingness to hold many other companies to the same standard of joint employer, making businesses that use subcontractors or temp agencies at least partly liable in cases of overtime, wage or union-organizing violations.
10.21am ET
The SEIU tweets a picture of a strike outside a Wendys in Delaware:
Happening now: Wilmington fast food workers on strike! #netde #strikefastfood pic.twitter.com/pnNCrAduJ5
10.10am ET
Los Angeles:
#StrikeFastFood Jose from Burger King @ 3rd & Alvarado earns $0.25 above min. wage after 24 years on the job #15Now pic.twitter.com/EYYkYObtBN
10.09am ET
Al-Jazeera English columnist Sarah Kendzior reports eight people were arrested in fast food strikes in St Louis:
St Louis protesters back on the bus -- except for the eight people arrested. Next stop: Memphis #StrikeFastFood
10.06am ET
Arrests in Detroit:
30 fast food workers arrested in Detroit. @fightfor15 http://t.co/5NsS1Fq4oC pic.twitter.com/ho2i9sLRrv
10.05am ET
About a half dozen protesters were arrested at a rally outside a McDonalds in Chicago this morning, the Tribune reports, estimating that there were about 150 protesters at the scene:
Organizers planned to ramp up protests to include acts of civil disobedience. The workers involved said they are willing to be arrested as they try to get their message across, organizers involved in the Fight for $15 movement said. [...]
A mob of strikers and allies blocking the street in Chicago @fightfor15 via @APNCorganizing #strikefastfood pic.twitter.com/XmqXG6OjL3
On 87th Street, about 150 fast food workers, health care workers, organizers and community members shouted, pumped their fists and chanted we are the union, the mighty, mighty union, outside of a McDonalds in the Far South Side during a protest on Thursday.
9.58am ET
McDonalds is tweeting dollar signs made out of jalepeño peppers. Workers claim the corporation has plenty of jalepeños to draw a double-digit number next to that $.
We believe that any minimum wage increase should be implemented over time so that the impact on owners and small and medium-sized businesses like the ones who own and operate the majority of our restaurants is manageable, McDonalds said a statement about the protest movement quoted by USA Today.
Hot spice. Low price. New Jalapeño Double. pic.twitter.com/WRNv8Ji8K5
9.49am ET
Protesters are out this morning in Chicago, the site last July of a summit meeting of service industry employees to fix on a national strategy to gain a living wage:
Civil disobedience in #Chicago at #Fastfoodstrike pic.twitter.com/XT4kcpxPxO
9.47am ET
An assemblywoman tweets a photo from a San Diego rally:
Proud to stand with #FastFoodWorkers & @SEIU in San Diego this morning in our #FightFor15 #Fastfoodstrike pic.twitter.com/h2R99EBhxM
In charleston SC where fast food workers just poured into a Taco Bell urging others to walk out #fastfoodstrike pic.twitter.com/O50JTIyssR
9.41am ET
The Guardians Lauren Gambino (@lgamgam) has shot a brief video clip of the Times Square protest this morning. No justice, no peace, the marchers chant:
9.37am ET
You can read Guardian business correspondent Dominic Rushes (@dominicru) report on the fast-food workers movement here.
The workers are asking for a minimum wage of $15/hour, up from the current federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour.
Live fast food workers strike coverage from @TeeMcSee http://t.co/61QQHfNB4W pic.twitter.com/YCf5EenB37
9.33am ET
There are reports of arrests at protests in support of a $15/hour wage for fast food workers in Detroit and Las Vegas. Follow the hashtags #fastfoodstrike and #strikefastfood for more pictures and reports. Heres a helicopter photo from Detroit:
From @WWJ950 Chopper 950, #Fastfoodstrike protesters in middle of street. At least 20 arrests. http://t.co/F4d1Xwk9Xr pic.twitter.com/FwYHCteJp6
9.22am ET
Ive spoken with Lauren Gambino about the protest this morning in Times Square. She says a few hundred people showed up at the demonstration at about 6.30 am. The rally centered on a McDonalds, which remained open, Lauren tells me.
Five to 10 people were arrested, she said, but it was all very civil:
Everyone was in fairly good spirits. They gathered close to the McDonalds in Times Square to start. It was a combination of people. Fast-food workers. There were also home care workers. There were also other union members and supporters.
@TeeMcSee just spoke with an NYPD PIO who said there was another handful of arrests for disorderly conduct. 19 in total from the am strike.
9.08am ET
The Guardians Lauren Gambino has been watching a protest in New Yorks Times Square that began at 7am.
The protest has drawn a large crowd, some of whom are participating in a sit-in that has led to some arrests.
The food workers' march ends in front of Time Square's McDonald's. pic.twitter.com/ID4Otc1ZN5
Crowd cheers as three more workers are cuffed with what looks like plastic zip ties. #15AndAUnion strike pic.twitter.com/OE4ueBIbKu
8.48am ET
Good morning and welcome to our live blog coverage of a day of national protests by fast-food workers and allied service industry employees. Organizers are billing Thursdays walkout protests as the largest demonstrations yet in the workers fight for a $15 minimum wage and better benefits.
Workers from McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut and other large chains planned to protest outside stores in more than 100 cities in California, Missouri, Wisconsin, New York and elsewhere. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the USs largest unions with two million members, said thousands of home healthcare workers would join the protests.
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