Chicago Fast-Food Workers Strike As 10,000 Underpaid Workers Prepare for Biggest-Ever Protest at McDonald’s Shareholder Meeting

Author: 
Fight For 15 (CIMC Repost)
Locality: 

Actions to continue throughout the afternoon/evening at McDonald's HQ

Link to photos from morning action at McDonalds:
https://app.box.com/s/adc89wz4m94mdtdyzatbggrowoee5zc4

Wednesday, May 25

5:00 pm CT Protest | 22nd Street and Jorie Blvd., Oak Brook, IL, 60523 (Media can park at 2111 McDonald’s Dr.)

10,000 underpaid workers march on McDonald’s HQ in Oak Brook.

Thursday, May 26

6am CT Rally | McDonald’s Headquarters, 2111 McDonald’s Dr.

7 am CT March and Protest | Jorie Blvd & Forest Gate Drive, Oak Brook IL, 60523

Thousands of underpaid workers march on McDonald’s shareholder meeting.

Chicago Fast-Food Cooks, Cashiers Strike As 10,000 Underpaid Workers Prepare for Biggest-Ever Protest at McDonald’s Shareholder Meeting

---

Massive Strike at Rock N Roll McDonald’s in Windy City Brings Lunchtime Rush to a Halt

---

Massive Oak Brook March Hours Away; Workers Vow to Occupy McDonald’s Drive at Company HQ

Oak Brook, Ill.* – Fast-food cooks and cashiers demanding $15/hour and union rights walked off their jobs across Chicago Wednesdayafternoon,
kicking off two days of protest that will continue this afternoon when a record 10,000 underpaid workers march on McDonald’s headquarters ahead of the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

A raucous strike line with thousands of workers stretched around the flagship Rock N Roll McDonald’s store in downtown ChicagoWednesday,
bringing the lunchtime rush to a halt. Chanting “We Work, We Sweat, Put $15 on Our Check,” crowds of striking workers flooded the sidewalk outside the restaurant, spilling onto North Clark Street, where workers are continuing to rally.

Following the morning strike, 10,000 fast-food, home care, child care, airport, and university workers from across the country plan to march on McDonald’s corporate headquarters in Oak Brook on the eve of the company’s annual meeting. At the conclusion of the march, McDonald’s workers said they would set up tents and remain at the company’s headquarters overnight to make sure their calls for $15 and union rights are heard.

McDonald's closed its headquarters Wednesday in anticipation of the protest.

Throughout the day, workers are underscoring that while McDonald’s profits have soared and its stock recently hit an all-time high, the fast-food giant still pays wages so low that its workers are forced to rely on public assistance to scrape by.

“We cook and serve those all-day breakfasts that are making McDonald’s millions and millions, but we can’t feed our own families without turning
to food stamps,” said Angel Mitchell, a McDonald’s worker from Chicago, Ill., who is paid $10.10/hour. “We’re coming to McDonald’s headquarters to tell the company and its shareholders it’s time workers shared in the company’s good fortune. We can’t wait any longer for $15/hour and union
rights and we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure our voices are heard.”

McDonald’s workers are being joined in protest throughout the day by underpaid workers in the Fight for $15 from across the service sector, including home care, child care, airport and higher education workers. They will demand McDonald’s use its global economic footprint to lift up working families across the economy rather than hold them down.

McDonald’s workers from five countries spanning three continents traveled to Illinois to join the protests, which will continue throughout the night
and into Thursday morning, when workers will march directly on the company’s shareholder meeting.

The protests come days after fast-food workers who are members of the Fight for $15 National Organizing Committee traveled to Detroit and addressed members attending SEIU’s quadrennial convention, announcing their desire to become members of the union that has backed their Fight for $15 since it launched three-and-a-half-years ago. The move to join SEIU sends a strong message to companies like McDonald’s that workers are intent on winning not just $15/hour, but also an organization through which they can continue to fight for better pay and improved rights on the job.

Wednesday, May 25

5:00 pm CT Protest | 22nd Street and Jorie Blvd., Oak Brook, IL, 60523 (Media can park at 2111 McDonald’s Dr.)

10,000 underpaid workers march on McDonald’s HQ in Oak Brook.

Thursday, May 26

6am CT Rally | McDonald’s Headquarters, 2111 McDonald’s Dr.

7 am CT March and Protest | Jorie Blvd & Forest Gate Drive, Oak Brook IL,
60523*

Thousands of underpaid workers march on McDonald’s shareholder meeting.

The protesters included workers from New York and California who recently won paths to $15/hour via state legislation, but who are continuing to
fight for union rights. As the $15 wins in New York and California show, the Fight for $15 is building a growing awareness that $15/hour is the minimum wage level American workers in every part of the country need to survive and pay for the necessities to support their families.

Cities including Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have raised their minimum wage to $15/hour. And home care workers in Massachusetts and Oregon won $15/hour statewide minimum wages. Companies including Facebook, Allstate, Aetna, Amalgamated Bank, and Nationwide Insurance have raised pay to $15/hour or higher; workers in nursing homes, public schools and hospitals have won $15/hour via collective bargaining; and fast-food workers have ratcheted up pressure on companies like McDonald’s to raise pay to $15/hour.

As McDonald’s faces louder calls from workers across the U.S. demanding higher pay and the right to a union, the company is also coming under fire from regulators and elected officials worldwide over a range of harmful business practices, including tax avoidance, labor violations, and
anti-competitive practices.

In April, the French government sent a letter to McDonald’s <http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/20/mcdonalds-hit-by-french-tax-bill.html> demanding the company pay back €300 million ($340 million) in unpaid taxes and fines as a result of a scheme that funneled royalties through Luxembourg. Late last year the European Commission opened an investigation <http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/dec/03/eu-confirms-major-investigation-into-mcdonalds-tax-deals>into McDonald’s over allegations the company avoided more than €1 billion in taxes via the same Luxembourg machinations.

Earlier this year, Spanish tax authorities opened a criminal investigation <http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2016/02/20/actualidad/1455994666_356182.html> into McDonald’s tax avoidance, and leading consumer rights advocates and NGOs petitioned Italy’s top tax authorities late last year to investigate McDonald’s over allegations that the fast-food giant has dodged at least €74 million ($84 million) in taxes owed to Italy since 2009.

In January, Italian consumer groups filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, alleging exorbitant rents and onerous contracts thrust upon franchisees give the company an unfair advantage. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom – the home of turf of CEO Steve Easterbrook – McDonald’s is facing more scrutiny than ever before. In April, Labour Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn announced his party’s support
<http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/jeremy-corbyn-eu-migrants-uk-referendum-brexit_uk_570f80ede4b0b84e2e71eabe> for a global campaign to hold McDonald’s accountable, saying, “We will extend that campaign all across this continent.” Also last month, Labour Party
leaders barred McDonald’s <http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2016/04/20/the-mcdonalds-row-reveals-the-weakness-of-jeremy-corbyn-s-op> from sponsoring its party’s convention because of the company’s unfair treatment of workers. Worker protests in the UK forced McDonald’s to abandon its controversial zero-hours scheduling policy in which workers are required to be available to work all the time, but receive no set hours.

In March, Brazilian prosecutors <http://www.buzzfeed.com/coralewis/mcdonalds-is-under-criminal-investigation-in-brazil#.kuBlyXVk5R>
launched an investigation of alleged “fiscal and economic crimes” committed by McDonald’s, including suspected tax avoidance and violations of Brazil’s franchise and competition laws. As McDonald’s looks to sell or refranchise thousands of company-owned stores worldwide, the Change to Win Investment group sent a letter <http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/09/investing/mcdonalds-stock-all-time-high/> to McDonald’s Board of Directors earlier this month expressing concern over flagging sales and poor corporate governance by the company’s master franchisor in Latin America, Arcos Dorados.

The worldwide scrutiny comes on top of an ongoing case <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/03/10/as-high-stakes-labor-case-begins-mcdonalds-insists-it-has-no-control-over-actions-of-franchisees/> against McDonald’s being prosecuted here in the U.S. by the National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel charging that McDonald’s is responsible for labor law violations committed against its employees fighting for $15 and union rights.

# # #

Founded in November of 2012, the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago is a union of fast food workers fighting for a $15/hour living wage, the right to form a union without retaliation, and respect in the workplace. Workers live and work in different neighborhoods across the Chicagoland area including Chicago’s suburbs. Many of the restaurants they’re employed at include, but aren’t limited to McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Popeye’s, Subway, and Dunkin Donuts. The Fight for 15 campaign has won major victories in cities across the country such as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. The Fight for 15 campaign is supported by an ever-expanding coalition of community, labor and faith-based groups.

Join Fight For 15 Chicago on Facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/FightFor15Chicago>
<http://www.facebook.com/AriseChicago>Follow us on Twitter
<http://twitter.com/ChiFightFor15> @ChiFightFor15

Add new comment

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.