Between 1,000 and 2,000 McDonald’s employees and labor rights supporters flooded McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., on Wednesday, just hours before the company’s annual shareholders meeting. Chanting slogans such as “No Big Macs, No Fries, Make Our Wage Supersize,” the protestors called for a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize. But as they […]
Minimum Wage
NEWSFLASH: Fast-Food Workers to Strike Worldwide!
At a press conference outside a Manhattan McDonald’s this morning, the group Fast Food Forward announced that workers around the globe will undertake a one-day strike on May 15 to push for higher pay and workers’ rights. The 15th is a perfectly symbolic day to strike, as the strikers’ pay goal is $15 an hour. […]
We Heart: President Obama’s Speech on Income Inequality
We love President Obama’s support of the fight for a living wage! On Wednesday, the President gave a speech about the economy and the Affordable Care Act in which he called income inequality the “defining challenge of our time.” In the speech, delivered in one of the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Washington D.C., Obama said, […]
How’s the Gender Wage Gap in YOUR State?
For more than a decade, U.S. women have earned, on average, 77 cents to every dollar earned by a man. Today the same disparity remains, but varies greatly by state and race, according to a study released last week by the National Women’s Law Project (NWLP). Wyoming’s pay gap is the widest: Women working full time […]
Due Respect: Minimum Wage Now Covers Home Caregivers
The U.S. Department of Labor said Tuesday it will extend the federal minimum wage and overtime protections provided by the Fair Labor Standards Act to direct-care health workers, who are among the lowest paid employees in the country. The inclusion, which goes into effect January 1, 2015, will benefit nearly 2 million people, 90 percent […]
Domestic Workers Rights Are Women’s Rights
Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) has a big decision to make for the cause of women’s rights. On his desk at the moment is a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights that recently passed both houses of the California legislature. The bill only needs Gov. Brown’s signature to become law; if he doesn’t sign it before September […]
Poverty in the U.S.: Do the Math
For the first time in many years, poverty is news again. Newspaper headlines, television report and the blogosphere have reacted to the latest Census Bureau report showing that U.S. poverty increased last year, and that women and children are among the poorest of the poor. In fact, poverty among women is at the highest level in […]