MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Workers from fast food restaurants across the country walked out Monday, calling for a minimum wage of $15.
Here in Memphis, a group gathered in front of the McDonald’s on Poplar Avenue at 6 a.m.. They carried signs saying “Show me $15 & a union” and “#Fightfor15.”
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“I’m out here protesting along with my fellow sisters and brothers who work at McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s. I work at Church’s Chicken myself. We are fast food workers. We are asking for $15 for our minimum wage and we’re asking for union rights on our jobs,” explained Ashley Kathey.
Joined by Representative G.A. Hardaway, the Official Black Lives Matter Memphis Chapters, Workers Interfaith Network, IBEW and the Copper Coalition, workers moved to the Taco Bell at Poplar and Belvedere at 10 a.m., then moved up Evergreen to Trinity United Methodist Church, which was hosting a Workers Interfaith Network Faith and Labor Picnic.
“Memphis workers in the Fight for $15 stressed their demand not just for $15 an hour, but for union rights in order to fix the economic and political systems in the U.S. that are rigged to benefit big corporations over working people,” organizers said in a news release.
Similar scenes played out in 300 cities across the nation over the Labor Day holiday.
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