People participate in rally in front of a McDonalds in New York, Tuesday, March 31, 2015. Fast-food labor organizers say they’re expanding the scope of their campaign for $15 an hour and unionization, this time with a day of actions including other low-wage workers and demonstrations on college campuses. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP
- Workers in 90% of stores owned by franchisees are not covered by new policy
- McDonald’s workers press demand for $15 an hour and right to form union
McDonald’s workers who are struggling to make ends meet have vowed to keep fighting for $15-an-hour pay and the right to form a union without retaliation, saying that the incremental rise will not help them pay their bills, stay off public assistance and out of poverty.
The fast-food giant announced it will raise the pay of 90,000 of its US employees starting in July, meaning employees at its corporate-owned stores will earn at least a dollar more than the local minimum wage.
Justin Johnson, who makes $7.60 an hour, does not qualify for a raise because he works at a franchisee-owned McDonald’s in St Louis, Missouri. Franchisees own about 90% of US McDonald’s stores. Johnson, 21, said that he will still join low-wage workers in the nationwide protests on 15 April to demand $15 an hour in pay.
“All I gotta say is: Is this an April Fools’ joke? After three years of campaigning, McDonald’s raises wages for less than 10% of their workers. Well, they are not fooling us,” Johnson said on Wednesday, hours after the McDonald’s announcement.
The McDonald’s pay bump is similar to those at Walmart, Target, Marshalls and TJ Maxx. These small pay hikes are a long way from lifting these workers from poverty.
Even after Walmart’s new wage of at least $9 an hour is implemented this month, its employees will qualify for public assistance programs like childcare, food stamps and housing assistance, analysis from Americans for Tax Fairness revealed.
Walmart workers who work 34 hours a week at $9 an hour earn $15,912 a year. If they are single, they qualify for three out of five public assistance programs for which they are eligible. If they have children, they would qualify for eight public assistance programs. Even if they earn $10 an hour, workers would qualify for public assistance, according to the report.
This is true of all workers earning wages of $10 or less, not just Walmart workers. McDonald’s workers, who after receiving their pay increase will be earning on average $9.90, would also qualify for public assistance.
‘It’s worth civil disobedience’
Darius Cephas, 23, lives in Boston, Massachusetts. He has worked for a franchisee owned McDonald’s store for about two years and earns $9.25 an hour. He has full-time availability, but doesn’t always get full-time schedule.
Starting 1 July, McDonald’s workers at corporate-owned stores will be paid at least $1 more than the local minimum wage. For many, that means earning $8.25 instead of $7.25. Cephas already makes more than that and is still struggling.
“If I was five, six, seven years younger, I’d say this is perfect, because I wouldn’t care as much,” he said of his low pay. Living in a city like Boston is expensive. “Rent is $900 and I am making a little less than $800 a month.”
Then there are other bills – bills for food, phone, utilities. He is especially concerned about making sure that his phone doesn’t get turned off – he needs it to look for a second job to make ends meet. There is also his student loan debt.
“I still have to pay back the student loans, but I haven’t made one payment yet because I still have all these bills lined up before that. I am not making enough,” he said.
Right now, he supplements his income by doing odd jobs, mostly consisting of manual labor like helping people move.
“Everyone just wants to survive and work happily. Fifteen dollars and union is what any fast-food worker needs,” he said. “I am not saying that everything will be better, but it will be livable. It will be manageable.”
As for the McDonald’s announcement, Cephas said it’s a publicity stunt designed to take workers’ minds off of what’s important – the fight for $15. He still plans to join in the 15 April protests that are supposed to take place in over 200 US cities. He has previously participated in at least five other protests and has even been arrested for civil disobedience. Getting $15 an hour and having a right to form a union is worth civil disobedience, he told the Guardian.
“It’s worth everything, putting my life on the line for. Every worker needs this. It’s a must. It needs to happen now, which is why I am on the streets now letting people know it needs to happen,” he said.
The next step? Convincing the franchise owners to raise their wages as well.
“Now we have to get to the franchise owners and make sure they understand we are not going away,” said Cephas.
‘If those fat cats at McDonald’s think they will make us back down, they are wrong’
Eight years ago, when he turned 18, Bleu Rainer got a minimum-wage job at McDonald’s in Charlotte, North Carolina. Three years ago, after moving to Tampa, Florida, he started working at Arby’s where he was quickly promoted to shift manager and was making $8.73.
He is now back to working at McDonald’s earning $8.05 an hour. He is available to work full time, yet the three weeks that he has spent working at this franchisee owned McDonald’s, he has been scheduled for just three days a week, for three hours each day.
“That’s 18 hours for two weeks. I got my check the other day and it was $106,” he said. “The only thing that I was able to do with the $106 was buy me a little bit of groceries and put $50 towards my rent. My rent is $726. Thank God, I was able to get food.”
Rainer, who helps his mom support his siblings, relies on food stamps to help pay for groceries. He is looking for a second job. When he asked for more hours at his McDonald’s store, Rainer was told that it is the computer that generates the schedule.
“How does a computer know how hard I am working? How does a computer know if I can pay my bills off of $106?” he said.
Since Rainer works at a franchisee-owned store in Tampa, Florida, he and his co-workers won’t qualify for the announced pay increase. They were not impressed by Wednesday’s announcement.
“Nice try McDonald’s! They say you’re raising wages. But [that’s] just for 5% of the workers. They say it’s more money. But [that’s] nowhere near living wage. This is nothing but smoke and mirrors. If those fat cats at McDonald’s think they will make us back down, they are wrong,” said Rainer.
