The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. August 30, 2013 Fast-Food Workers Go On Strike in 60 Cities Demanding Living Wage ------------------------------------------------------------------ Fast-food workers went on strike in 60 U.S. cities in the largest protest of an almost year-long campaign to raise service sector wages at restaurants, including Mc Donald's and Burger King. The striking workers say they want to unionize without retaliation in order to collectively bargain for a $15-an-hour "living wage," more than twice the federal minimum of $7.25. Longtime fast-food worker Shantel Walker went on strike in New York City. Shantel Walker: "To tell you the truth, I've been in fast food since 1999 on and off, and it's 2013. I had a couple of other jobs in between. But for the most part, no matter what job I get, it always starts back at $7.25. That's — like they say, that's state minimum wage, so it doesn't matter where you work. That's the whole irony of this whole situation. It's not just fast food. It's people in factories. It's people in warehouses. It's people all over. They're not making money. Some people can't even pay their rent. Some people live in shelters. I know some people that don't even have homes to live in. They live in shelters, and they work every day. That's what you call the working poor." New York City Council Member Letitia James expressed support for the fast-food workers. Letitia James: "Most of the individuals who work in fast-food restaurants, which is one of the growing — fastest-growing industries in the City of New York, it's a race to the bottom. A significant number of them in retail and in the fast-food restaurants are women of color who look like me. And so, there is a feminization of poverty. It's a term which describes most women who live below the poverty level who are struggling to make ends meet." .