Fast-food customers in search of burgers and fries might run into striking workers instead.
Workers across the United States are expected to stage their largest strike to date on Thursday. This stems from an almost year-long campaign to raise wages in the service sector.
Employees of McDonald's Corp, Wendy's Restaurants LLC, Burger King Worldwide Inc and others have pledged to walk off their jobs in 50 cities from Boston to Alameda, Calif., organizers said. They will be joined by retail employees at stores owned by Macy's Inc, Sears Holdings Corp and Dollar Tree Inc in some cities, according to ABC News.
The second-largest effort was over the summer, when over 2,000 of the nation's million fast food workers staged a one-day strike in seven cities. Thursday's planned walkout is followed by a series of strikes that began last November in New York City has spread to cities including Chicago, Detroit and Seattle. Other cities followed their lead in April and July.
Workers are fighting for $15 an hour pay raise. According to ABC News, this would amount to $31,000 a year for full-time employees. Fast-food workers currently make about $7.25 an hour, or $15,000 a year, which is the standard minimum wage according to the United Stated Department of Labor.
Organizers are calling for the national government to hike the federal minimum wage, which was last raised in 2009. According to Bloomberg News, congress is seeking a more modest increase to minimum wage. Some reports suggest President Barack Obama wants to boost it to $9 an hour.
Reuters reported McDonald's Corp. and Burger King Worldwide Inc. said it's not their decision to raise pay if the store is independently operated. McDonald's said in a statement that pay starts at minimum wage but the range goes higher, depending on the employee's position and experience level.
"McDonald's aims to offer competitive pay and benefits to our employees," the company said in a statement. "Our history is full of examples of individuals who worked their first job with McDonald's and went on to successful careers both within and outside of McDonald's."
Franchises like Wendy's Co. and Yum Brands Inc., which owns KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, did not respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
According to ABC News, Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which is providing the fast-food strikes with financial support and training, the actions in recent months show that fast-food workers can be mobilized, despite the industry's relatively higher turnover rates and younger age.
According to Tsedeye Gebreselassie, an attorney at the National Employment Law Project, workers are responding to the federal government's failure to raise the minimum wage to keep up with inflation and the cost of living.