PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Fast food employees in Philadelphia called for higher pay and union representation during an international day of protest.
The global demonstrations Thursday build on a campaign by unions to spotlight the plight of low-paid restaurant workers. The goal is to generate public support for a $15 hourly wage.
Businesses have said such pay would hurt their ability to create jobs.
Dozens of demonstrators marched and rallied outside two McDonald’s in Philadelphia.
Justice Wallace, a 19-year-old worker at Subway who earns $7.50 an hour, says she can’t live comfortably on what she’s paid. She calls it “a poverty wage.”
Jose Torres, a 19-year-old Burger King employee who earns $7.46 an hour, says much of the money he earns goes toward getting to work and his phone bill.
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