Fast Food Workers in NYC Rise Up — The beginning of a low-wage workers’ rebellion?

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On November 29, workers at dozens of fast food restaurants in New York City walked off the job, formed pickets outside and raised demands for higher wages, better hours, and union rights. It was a truly inspiring moment to see workers who suffer silently in the margins come forward to speak up for themselves.

It is a myth that fast food jobs are just for youth looking to make some extra cash. There are nearly 50,000 fast food workers in New York, and for many it’s their only means of earning income for themselves and their families.

Fast food work is more than just flipping burgers. Workers in fast food kitchens have to deal with workplace hazards like hot grease that often burns them (most have the scars to prove it). They work for minimum wage at $7.25, and many depend on food stamps and other government assistance. With so little weekly take-home pay some are forced to live in shelters. In fact, McDonald’s is reported to have recruited workers at homeless shelters.

Workers strike

In Midtown Manhattan, where workers from Burger King, Wendy’s, KFC, and other restaurants walked out, the super-exploitation of fast food workers stands side by side with all the glitz and glamour of New York City high-end commerce, shopping, and tourism.

But now these heroic workers are taking a stand, and we as socialists, give them our unconditional support. It’s part of a campaign called Fast Food Forward, backed by New York Communities for Change (NYCC), UnitedNY.org, the Black Institute, and SEIU. It is the biggest attempt ever to organize fast food workers.

One of their demands is for $15 per hour in pay. This is significant, as many low-wage battles have called for much more modest pay increases. By asking for $15 they’re going beyond saying they want a little more. The message is: “we deserve a living wage.” In truth, $15 per hour in New York City is not enough to live on for some, especially those with families, but it’s an enormous step in that direction.

Fast food workers are not the only ones taking bold measures to fight for better conditions. On Black Friday there were actions at upwards of 1,000 Walmarts across the country, with workers demanding union rights, no retaliation for speaking up, better hours, and $13 per hour in pay. These actions were not just one-off events, but are part of an on-going campaign of Walmart workers.

Taking on corporate giants

Fast food companies are expected to bring in $200 billion in revenue this year. Walmart’s revenues in 2011 totaled $477 billion with $15.7 billion of that being pure profit. The Walmart family alone now owns as much wealth as the entire bottom 40% of families in the U.S. This obscene wealth is not created by smart business people making smart business decisions, it comes off the backs of their highly exploited workers, who are rewarded for their hard work with poverty wages.

Here in New York there have also been a number of battles recently to organize low-wage workers, predominantly among immigrants. Six grocery stores have been organized in Brooklyn. There are now four recently unionized car washes as well. They are fighting for higher wages and back pay. Also recently, workers at a Hot & Crusty bakery staged an occupation and 55-day picket to win union recognition. These are examples of the new self-organizing of workers into action, backed by the support of the community. Their employers caved because of their bold action.

But fast food companies and Walmart are much bigger employers and enormously powerful corporations that have and will continue to fight tooth and nail to prevent a union from forming. The actions last week received media attention all across the country and even forced McDonald’s to issue a statement saying they were committed to dialogue to be an “even better employer”. Do they really expect us to believe that? But it will take more than just bad publicity.

The Fast Food Forward campaign is a step in the right direction. Rather than organizing a single restaurant or chain, the campaign is aiming to organize the entire industry in New York City at once. A strategy is needed for highly coordinated actions on a truly massive scale if we’re going to bring these corporations to heel. We’ll need strikes and walkouts at hundreds of fast food stores with visible pickets outside everywhere backed up by thousands of Occupy and trade union activists and other supporters. This will require preparation and the workers themselves taking ownership of their struggle by forming their own workplace committees and linking them together to develop a strategy and coordinate action.

The struggle at these massive companies should be linked to a broader struggle to mobilize millions for the rights of all workers. Imagine if there were rolling walkouts at hundreds of restaurants, shops, groceries, and retail outlets all across the city demanding an across-the-board wage increase and union recognition for all!

NYC elections

We can also have no faith in Democrats, who like the Republicans are a party of the Wall Street and big business. In New York City, the mayoral hopeful and current Democratic city councilor, Christine Quinn, has made gestures of support for fast food workers, seeking to tap the support of workers for the 2013 election. But Quinn is deep in the back pocket of rich business owners. She even opposes legislation requiring employers to give all workers sick pay, so how can she be trusted to support a living wage?

Workers need to rely on their numeric strength and social power as the economic foundation of society. This power should not be sacrificed to corporate politicians at the ballot box. A far better way to impact elections and take the struggle forward would be to run a slate of working-class independent candidates for city council seats and mayor in 2013 on a platform of living-wage jobs and union rights for all. Such a campaign could act as a collective voice for the struggle of low-wage workers in the election while striking a powerful blow against the corporate politicians that have stacked the deck against the 99%.

A sleeping giant

Despite the corporate character of the Democratic Party, the defeat of the right wing in the 2012 elections is likely to give workers confidence. None of the underlying problems that gave birth to the Occupy movement have been solved, and 2013 is likely to be a year of renewed and potentially explosive struggles in the U.S.

The huge mass of low-wage workers is like a sleeping giant, that when roused could strike a mighty blow at the 1% and radically transform U.S. society. These young, energetic class fighters would provide fresh blood to revitalize the labor movement as organizations of class struggle, not class collaboration. Having been through the experience of what capitalism in the 21st century means – i.e. low wage jobs and miserable working conditions – support for socialist ideas would surge.

It may be too early to say that we’re on the cusp of a low-wage worker rebellion, but one thing is for certain: this type of resistance is the music of the future and right now low-wage workers’ struggles should be a rallying point for Occupy activists looking to fight for the 99%, for trade unionists who are seeking to reinvigorate the labor movement, and for everyone who is ready to fight for the interests of working people and youth.

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