Striking In Times Square

“What do we want? 15! If we don’t get it? Shut it down!” This was shouted and displayed on billboards as over 300 hundred protesters, including striking Verizon employees, converged on a McDonald’s restaurant in Times Square Thursday early morning demanding a $15-an-hour minimum wage for fast food workers. Mixing issues  “Black Lives Matter, Fight for $15, Immigrant Justice” and “I Can’t Breathe,” a reference to Eric Garner, were worn by strikers. 36,000 Verizon employees, were marching with the fast food workers to show “solidarity” for their cause. Personally I think they should strike asking for their jobs to stop being out sourced to the Philppians.

An outsized effigy of Ronald McDonald stood outside the restaurant.

McDonald’s announced last year that it was raising its minimum wage to $1 more than the “locally-mandated” minimum wage. New York lawmakers have agreed to eventually raise the minimum wage to $15, from the current minimum of $9. The minimum wage could reach $15 in New York City by 2018, but statewide it will take longer.