{"id":17771,"date":"2013-05-11T22:53:15","date_gmt":"2013-05-12T02:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theredphoenixapl.org\/?p=17771"},"modified":"2013-05-11T22:53:15","modified_gmt":"2013-05-12T02:53:15","slug":"fast-food-strike-wave-spreads-to-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/2013\/05\/fast-food-strike-wave-spreads-to-detroit\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast Food Strike Wave Spreads to Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"detroit_strike_eidelson_img\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by<\/span>\u00a0Josh Eidelson<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/span>\u00a0Detroit15.org<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Four updates appear below.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Hundreds of Detroit fast food workers plan to walk off the job beginning at 6\u00a0am\u00a0today, making the motor city the fourth in five weeks to see such strikes. Organizers expect participants from at least sixty stores, including McDonald\u2019s, Wendy\u2019s, Subway, Little Caesar\u2019s, and Popeye\u2019s locations. Like this week\u2019s strike in<\/span>\u00a0St. Louis<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and last month\u2019s in<\/span>\u00a0New York<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0y<\/span>\u00a0Chicago<\/span><\/a><\/span>, today\u2019s work stoppage is backed by a local coalition including the Service Employees International Union, and the participants are demanding a raise to $15 an hour and the chance to form a union without intimidation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organizers say that over a hundred workers joined the St. Louis strike between Wednesday and Thursday. That included a group of Jimmy John\u2019s workers who alleged that management humiliated them by requiring them to hold up signs in public with messages including \u201cI made 3 wrong sandwiches today\u201d and \u201cI was more than 13 seconds in the drive thru.\u201d \u201cSometimes I walk for more than an hour just to save my train fare so I can spend it on Ramen noodles,\u201d St. Louis Chipotle worker Patrick Leeper said in an e-mailed statement Thursday. \u201cI can\u2019t even think about groceries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Jimmy John\u2019s declined to comment on Thursday\u2019s strike. McDonald\u2019s did not respond to a Tuesday inquiry about the fast food campaign; Wendy\u2019s did not respond to an inquiry last night.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0elsewhere, the fate of the fast food strike wave carries far-reaching implications: Fast food jobs are a growing portion of our economy, and fast food\u2013like conditions are proliferating in other sectors as well. Organizers say the fast food industry now employs twice as many Detroit-area workers as the city\u2019s iconic auto industry. These strikes also come at a moment of\u00a0<\/span>existential crisis<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0for the labor movement, a sobering reality that was brought into sharp relief in December when Michigan, arguably the birthplace of modern US private sector unionism,<\/span>\u00a0became<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0the country\u2019s latest \u201cright to work\u201d state.<\/span><\/p>\n

Along with a shared significant supporter\u2014SEIU\u2014the campaigns in New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit have<\/span>\u00a0apparent strategies<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0in common. Rather than waiting until they\u2019ve built support from a majority of a store\u2019s or company\u2019s workers, they stage actions by a<\/span>\u00a0minority<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0of the workforce designed to inspire their co-workers. Rather than publicly identifying the campaign and its organizers with a single international union, these union-funded efforts turn to<\/span>\u00a0allied community groups<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0to spearhead organizing. Rather than training all their resources on a single company, they organize against all of the industry\u2019s players at once. And\u2014faced with legal and economic assaults that have\u00a0<\/span>weakened<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0the strike weapon\u2014these campaigns mount one-day work stoppages that are carefully tailored to maximize attention and minimize, but not eliminate, the risk that workers will lose their jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether these strategies can ever compel a fast food giant to negotiate with its employees remains to be seen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter what I would consider well over three decades of wage suppression, workers in this particular industry\u2014and then I think it\u2019ll go to others\u2014are realizing that their only way up the wage ladder is through their own organizations,\u201d CUNY labor studies lecturer Ed Ott said Wednesday. Ott, a board member of the community organizing group that spearheaded the New York fast food strike, added, \u201cThe only way these workers are going to be able to advance these jobs is through unionization. And I think that idea has finally gotten traction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Update\u00a0<\/strong>(9:15\u00a0am\u00a0Friday): According to the campaign, a walkout by twenty workers at Detroit\u2019s 10400 Gratiot Avenue McDonald\u2019s prevented the store from operating. Some workers brought in as strikebreakers to replace those striking workers chose to join the strike instead.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organizers say that by day\u2019s end, today\u2019s strike could be the largest fast food work stoppage yet, topping last month\u2019s 400-strong strike in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

Update\u00a0<\/strong>(11:50\u00a0am): Along with the Gratiot Avenue McDonald\u2019s, organizers say that strikes shut down at least three others stores: a McDonald\u2019s on Van Dyke; a Long John Silver\u2019s on 8 Mile; and a Popeye\u2019s on Grand River, where strikers were joined by US Congressman John Conyers. Strikers plan to converge for rallies at 1 and 4 this afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s, Wendy\u2019s, Chipotle, and Long John Silver\u2019s did not immediately respond to requests for comment this morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Update\u00a0<\/strong>(2:05\u00a0pm\u00a0Friday): The campaign now says there are over 400 workers on strike in Detroit, making today\u2019s action the largest fast food strike in US history. That figure includes workers who woke up today planning to work and then changed their mind; at one McDonald\u2019s store, the campaign says eight workers decided at the last minute to join the strike after watching four of their co-workers walk off the job.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an e-mailed statement, McDonald\u2019s worker Nathaniel Gaines said that after management called him into work early to break the strike, he decided upon arrival to join the work stoppage instead. \u201cI am constantly training new workers, while working the grill at the same time, all at minimum wage,\u201d said Gaines. \u201cManagement always changes my hours, so I never have a consistent paycheck\u2026The strike made me feel empowered to do the right thing for myself and my son.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Update\u00a0<\/strong>(3:30\u00a0pm\u00a0Friday): In an e-mailed statement, McDonald\u2019s said, \u201cWe value and respect all the employees who work at McDonald\u2019s restaurants. The majority of McDonald\u2019s restaurants across the country are owned and operated by independent business men and women where employees are paid competitive wages, and have access to flexible schedules and quality, affordable benefits.\u201d The statement, which also touts \u201ctraining and professional development opportunities\u201d for workers who want to advance to management, is the same one provided by the company regarding protests in New York and Chicago last month. A McDonald\u2019s spokesperson did not immediately respond to\u00a0The Nation<\/em>\u2019s follow-up inquiry regarding the company\u2019s stance on the strikers\u2019 demands; whether management would meet with the striking workers; and whether any strikers would be punished or \u201cpermanently replaced.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Fuente<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Josh Eidelson Credit:\u00a0Detroit15.org. Four updates appear below. Hundreds of Detroit fast food workers plan to walk off the job beginning at 6\u00a0am\u00a0today, making the motor..<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,181,84,97],"tags":[229,197,347],"class_list":["post-17771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-labor","category-statements","category-us-news","tag-economic-exploitation","tag-imperialism","tag-workers-struggle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/redphoenix.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/detroit_strike_eidelson_img.jpg?fit=615%2C390&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redphoenix.news\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}