U.S: Fast-food workers continue fight against low wages: 'This is our right'

Thousands of workers to take part in a nationwide walk-out as part of a growing movement for industry workers' rights

Veronica Clark, a mother of three children and the sole breadwinner for her family in Detroit, has spent the last six years looking for a better paying job, to no avail. Every day, she puts on the shirt McDonald's provides her with and a pair of work pants of her own and goes to work serving burgers for $7.40 an hour. Clark, 47, is paid less per hour in real terms than the lowest paid US workers were half a century ago, when, on 28 August 1963, hundreds of thousands of citizens flooded into Washington for the historic march for freedom and jobs for black Americans. One of the marchers' demands was a minimum wage raise from $1.25 to $2, reflecting their belief that the wage floor did not enable hardworking men and women to live in dignity. In today's dollars, that would represent a raise from $8.37 to $13.39, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute this week, substantially less than the minimum wage of $7.25 today. Clark works between 36 and 40 hours a week to give her daughters, Crystal, 14, and Veronique, 15, and their brother, André, 16, a decent roof over their heads. But she takes home around $800-$1,000 a month, wages so low the government subsidises her earnings with food stamps. On Thursday, Clark plans to skip her shift at the burger giant for a day to take part in a nationwide protest by US fast-food workers designed to highlight wages that have fallen, in real terms, in the past five decades. Thousands of workers in 50 cities are expected to take part in the one-day demonstration, to demand $15 an hour wages and the right to unionise. It is the fourth time Clark, one of 53,000 fast-food workers in the city, has taken action to protest low wages. Unafraid of being fired for her actions, she says she is "doing what I have to do" to try to lift her and her family out of poverty. "I'm not scared," said Clark. "This is our right. We're trying to work on that too, to get unionised." The workers are supported by a broad coalition of unions, local community organisers and members of the clergy, who have successfully escorted workers threatened with the sack or other discipline for their actions, back into their jobs. The movement to raise the minimum wage has grown since 200 workers in New York staged a one-day strike last November. By July this year it had expanded, with seven other cities including Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC hosting strikes. The fast-food industry has long been the province of low wages, but unions and poverty campaigners point out that it is no longer an entry-level job for teenagers, but has disproportionately replaced many better-paying jobs lost in the recession. It is now one of the fastest-growing job sectors in the US, occupied by many family breadwinners. Women make up two-thirds of workers in the fast-food industry, and the median age of a female worker is 32, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A quarter of fast-food workers are raising children, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research Campaigners argue that, while wages remain low, profits at the big US chains, such as McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Domino's and Papa John's, are booming, reporting higher revenues and fatter operating margins than before the recession. McDonald's, which has 1.8 million employees, made $5.46bn in profits in 2012, while Domino's, with 34,000 employees made $112m the same year. So far, the strikes have yielded few tangible results and critics say that while unemployment stays high and jobs are in high demand, employers have no incentive to increase wages. President Barack Obama is pushing to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 an hour. The last federal raise of the minimum wage was in 2009. But even if Congress were solidly behind him, which they don't appear to be, the higher figure would still leave the US behind many other industrialised countries. The differences are stark. The US lags behind the UK, where the minimum wage is £6.11 ($9.50) Australia, where it is 15.96 Australian dollars, ($16.91), France, €9.43($12.68), and Tokyo,$9.10. And while the US's nearest neighbour, Canada, doesn't have a minimum wage, the lowest provincial wage in Alberta is $9.73 in US dollars. Although Canada is not part of the US strike for a minimum wage, it also has a fast-food campaign to raise the minimum wage to $14. Armando Zapata, 22, from Ottawa, Canada, works for Tim Horton's, a fast-food coffee and donut restaurant. It has taken him three years, he said, to find a job that pays what he needs to finally make ends meet, at $11.50 Canadian ($US 10.96) an hour. But he says it is "unimaginable" that US fast-food workers earn as little as $7.25. "Instead of always being stressed about money, I finally got to a stage that I am making ends meet," said Zapata. "I was struggling to feed myself but it's unimaginable that someone could feed a family on much less – $7.25 an hour." The restaurant where Zapata works is unionised, and as a result it pays a dollar above other non-unionised Tim Horton restaurants. It also pays health benefits. Fast-food workers in Ottawa typically earn $10.25 an hour, the minimum wage, or close to it. Such disparities raise a question: how can fast-food companies pay workers higher wages in some states, districts and countries, yet still make a profit, while arguing that paying higher wages elsewhere will hurt their profits? When the Guardian asked one outlet, McDonald's, how it could pay workers in Australia $16.91, while paying workers in Detroit $7.40, they sent a statement in reply. The story promoted by the individuals organizing these events does not provide an accurate picture of what it means to work at McDonald's. We respect the strong relationship which exists among McDonald's, our independent operators, and the employees who work in McDonald's restaurants. Our restaurants remain open, with our dedicated employees providing strong service to our customers. It went on to say that McDonald's pays "competitive pay and benefits to all our employees". "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." Pastor WJ Rideout the III, of All God's People church in Detroit, is part of a local coalition of campaigns for a minimum wage of $15, a group that includes the Service Employees International Union as well as D15 and Good Jobs Now. "People can't survive off $7.25 an hour," said Rideout. "A gallon of milk is almost $5 today and a loaf of bread is $4. Every thing has gone up significantly but the minimum wage has not. People are crazy to think you can live on minimum wages. Fast-food jobs are no longer starter jobs, they are mom-and-pop jobs, even senior citizens jobs. We call them survivor jobs now, because all people are doing is surviving. I see the hurt and the pain." Rideout said he expects thousands of Detroit's 53,000 fast-food workers to come out on strike on Thursday. Asked if he thought the protest would change anything, he said: "President Obama asked for $9 an hour before we did the strikes. A Democratic senator in California [Senator Barbara Boxer[ has now asked for it to be raised to $10. This is happening all across America. We are going to keep pushing until we see a change."