City Government

Oakland Fast Food Workers Demand $15 Wage and Union Rights

Published

11 years ago

September 4, 2014

A number of Oakland fast-food workers walked off their jobs Thursday to support demands for wage increases of $15 an hour and union rights at a rally inside the Oakland McDonald’s at Telegraph Avenue and 45th Street.

The rally at the Oakland McDonald’s included workers from Burger King, KFC and Wendy’s and was supported by workplace actions at over 150 cities nationwide.

“They always ask us what we’re fighting for – It’s $15 and a union. We’re not going to stop,” said Christopher Higgenbotham, a five-year employee at McDonald’s, speaking on a bullhorn at a rally of about 100 protesters who marched into the restaurant at 4514 Telegraph Ave a little after 7 a.m. Thursday morning.

“We do really hard work. A lot of people don’t understand what goes on behind the counter,” said Rhonesha Victor, a two-year KFC Taco Bell employee.

Also speaking was Mary Kay Henry, national president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is backing the fast-food organizing drive.

“Fast Food workers have inspired a movement across the economy,” said Henry, pointing to organizing efforts by home healthcare employees and other low-wage workers. Clergy, elected officials and community supporters joined fast-food workers on the strike lines.

For nearly two years, fast-food workers at McDonald’s and other chain restaurants have been joining together and going on strike, calling for $15 an hour and the right to form a union without retaliation. A campaign started in New York City in November 2012, with 200 fast-food workers walking off their jobs.

Since then, the movement has spread to more than 150 cities in every region of the country, including the South. This new labor movement is challenging the myth that fast-food workers are teenagers looking for pocket change. Today’s workers are mothers and fathers struggling to raise children.

Follow the nationwide actions at www.strikefastfood.org and #StrikeFastFood.

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Related Topics:Burger King City of Oakland fast food workers KFC McDonald's minimum wage increase Oakland Wendy's

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Oakland Post: Week of June 4 – 10, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of June 4-10, 2025

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1 day ago

June 7, 2025

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Remembering George Floyd

BLACKPRESSUSA NEWSWIRE — Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing.

Published

7 days ago

June 2, 2025

Oakland Post

Mural showing the portrait of George Floyd in Mauerpark in Berlin. To the left of the portrait the lettering "I can't Breathe" was added, on the right side the three hashtags #GeorgeFloyd, #Icantbreathe and #Sayhisname. The mural was completed by Eme Street Art (facebook name) / Eme Free Thinker (signature) on 29 May 2020. (Wikimedia Commons)

By April Ryan
BlackPressUSA Newswire

“The president’s been very clear he has no intentions of pardoning Derek Chauvin, and it’s not a request that we’re looking at,” confirms a senior staffer at the Trump White House. That White House response results from public hope, including from a close Trump ally, Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. The timing of Greene’s hopes coincides with the Justice Department’s recent decision to end oversight of local police accused of abuse. It also falls on the fifth anniversary of the police-involved death of George Floyd on May 25th. The death sparked national and worldwide outrage and became a transitional moment politically and culturally, although the outcry for laws on police accountability failed.

The death forced then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to focus on deadly police force and accountability. His efforts while president to pass the George Floyd Justice in policing act failed. The death of George Floyd also put a spotlight on the Black community, forcing then-candidate Biden to choose a Black woman running mate. Kamala Harris ultimately became vice president of the United States alongside Joe Biden. Minnesota State Attorney General Keith Ellison prosecuted the cases against the officers involved in the death of Floyd. He remembers,” Trump was in office when George Floyd was killed, and I would blame Trump for creating a negative environment for police-community relations. Remember, it was him who said when the looting starts, the shooting starts, it was him who got rid of all the consent decrees that were in place by the Obama administration.”

In 2025, Police-involved civilian deaths are up by “about 100 to about 11 hundred,” according to Ellison. Ellison acknowledges that the Floyd case five years ago involved a situation in which due process was denied, and five years later, the president is currently dismissing “due process. “The Minnesota Atty General also says, “Trump is trying to attack constitutional rule, attacking congressional authority and judicial decision-making.” George Floyd was an African-American man killed by police who knocked on his neck and on his back, preventing him from breathing. During those minutes on the ground, Floyd cried out for his late mother several times. Police subdued Floyd for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill.