The city of Madison’s fast food workers will grab their signs to join together in a strike spanning 100 cities across the nation to fight for higher wages that cover the rising cost of living.
Workers believe increasing the minimum wage will bring forth better opportunities for families and communities, according to a Wisconsin Jobs Now statement. Participants are protesting for $15 per hour wages as opposed to Wisconsin’s current minimum wage set at $7.25. They also want the ability to form unions without consequences from employers, the statement said.
This has been an ongoing issue for the fast food workers after receiving no success from previous protests held in August 2013.
The wage issue stems from workers earning wages that still place them below the poverty line in cities around the U.S., including Madison and Milwaukee. The strikers are dissatisfied with the fact that some employed citizens rely on public assistance which adds up to approximately $166 from taxpayers in Wisconsin for basic living necessities, according to Wisconsin Jobs Now.
“They’re fired up, and they’re not going to take it anymore,” said Wisconsin Jobs Now in a statement.
The concerns of the strikers reflect nationwide opinions about raising the federal minimum wage. According to President Barack Obama in his State of the Union Address in February, a family with two children living off of minimum wage while working full time is below the poverty line. Obama called on Congress to implement increases in wages in response to the statistic.
“It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead,” said Obama during his State of the Union Address.
