New York City’s Fast-Food Strike Emboldens New York City’s Fast Food Strike Emboldens Low-Wage Workers Throughout The City And Beyond

Huffington Post 4-12-13

A week after hundreds of fast-food workers went on strike in New York City, organizers and workers say enthusiasm has grown for their efforts, despite some experts’ doubts that the drive will lead to the goal of a $15 minimum hourly wage.

At a Domino’s on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Anatole Yameogo, a 43-year-old delivery worker from Burkina Faso, persuaded only one other worker to strike with him last Thursday.

But when he went back to work the following day, other employees applauded him, he said. “The other people are ready now. I explained to them what we are doing is not only for us. It is for everybody. They don’t have to sit down and look at other people fight for them. They have to stand up.”

Yameogo was part of a citywide strike to push for a $15 minimum wage organized by the Fast Food Forward campaign, a labor effort launched last fall by New York Communities for Change. Jonathan Westin, the group’s director, described the campaign as one front in a fight for better wages in low-paying industries and companies around the country, including car-washes, supermarkets and Walmart stores.

In November, about 200 New York fast-food workers at 30 stores went on strike for a $15 hourly wage, an action that Westin said was inspired by a similar exploit by Walmart workers.

This time, about 400 workers walked out. “And we believe they’ll be even more emboldened after this one,” said Westin. “The more they continue to show that they have power in their stores, the more they’ll continue to be involved.”

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View video here. Fast Food Strike in NYC, and I’m Lovin’ it. By Dennis Trainor Jr.