Fast-food strikers complaining about their minimum-wage pay got a big thumbs-up for their cause on Thursday, as New York City’s leading financial guru, Comptroller John Liu, said yes, they should be paid more.
The fast-food workers want to unionize and to be paid a minimum of $15 per hour.
“There was a time in America when most fast-food workers were high-school kids living at home and trying to make some spending money,” Mr. Liu said in a statement issued from his office. “Sadly, in 2013 that is no longer the case.”
He said adults who work at the fast-food establishments had been cut out of the higher-wage job market because of the lagging economy, and they were struggling to support their families, United Press International reported.
“Paying them the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or close to it is unconscionable,” he said. “We hope they succeed” with their demand of $15 an hour.
Succeeding would mean the minimum wage would be pushed up for all — and in New York City, the new minimum pay would hit at $11.50 an hour, Mr. Liu said. Still, that wasn’t good enough.
That level is “barely enough to lift a worker out of poverty,” he said, UPI reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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