Fast food workers who have recently been walking out of their jobs in an effort to force the humongous corporations that own the chains to raise wages significantly have found themselves a new ally; U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez believes the strikes are a sign that the minimum wage needs to be increased, according to the Associated Press.
"It's important to hear that voice," Perez told the Associated Press. "For all too many people working minimum wage jobs, the rungs on the ladder of opportunity are feeling further and further apart."
Perez, who took over as labor secretary about a month ago, plans on pushing for the minimum wage to be raised from its current level of $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour, according to the Associated Press.
The striking workers are demanding a much higher wage than the proposed $9 an hour, instead they are demanding $15 an hour. Workers are saying that they are unable to do much more than just scrape by on current wages.
"We're all looking for a better life," KFC employee Seila Cardoso told the Boston Globe. "I don't see a better life here. I'm trying to save for college, but at $8 an hour, what am I going to do with that?"
Without union representation it is unlikely that the strikes will have much effect. Turnouts for the protests have been fairly low and passersby in New York commented that $15 was far too high of a wage for an entry-level job, according to Bloomberg.
John Gordon, principal of Pacific Management Consulting, told Bloomberg that because of the high rents and royalty costs charged to franchise owners by the restaurant chains that it is unlikely a franchise owner could afford a wage increase greater than $1.
"Most people here have a family to support, and most people here barely make enough to make ends meet," Dwight Murray, a McDonald's employee in Indianapolis, told USA Today. "We're here today because we feel like McDonald's is a $6 billion entity and it's not unfeasible for them to pay $15 an hour."
