Fast food workers across the Iowa state are going to stage their first ever strike on the day of the Republican debate ahead of the state's pivotal caucus. The strike has been called demanding a $15 per hour minimum wage and union rights.
The single day strike is believed to be called on the same day of Republican debate seeking to gain media attention. Besides implementation of the demanded minimum wage rate, the strike also aims to win right to form a union without retaliation for fat food and other low wage workers across the country, reports Bloomberg quoting Kendall Fells, national organizing director of the Fight for $15 movement.
The $15 movement has found momentum with the recent successes that apparently proves the changing capability of the fast food workers. The movement has already become successful to implement their minimum wage demand in New York, Los Angeles, SeaTac, San Francisco and Seattle, according to a report published in The Des Moines Register.
It is quite natural the fast food workers of Iowa will support candidates who stand with them and fight for the movement. The workers are believed to throw their full strength behind the candidates supporting the $15 minimum wage and union rights are very fundamental, reports In USA News.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has added a $15 hourly national minimum wage to its national platform. Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic senators including Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, and Kirsten Gillibrand have voiced support in favor of the movement.
Fight for $15 has staged rallies in 270 cities across the country. Democratic President hopeful Bernie Sanders has joined in one of the rallies. He has called to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour while addressing the rally.
With Thursday's planned demonstration, the Fight for $15 intends to affect the debate conversation. However, the bulk of the Republican candidates consider the group's demanding wage in double compared to the existing $7.25 an hour as too radical.
Republican President Aspirants Donald Trump and Ben Carson both expressed their reluctance over supporting the movement. Both the President hopefuls have been attending a Republican debate arranged in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. While addressing a question on expressing solidarity towards the movement, both of them have preferred to let the system go unabated as it exists. The $15 per hour minimum wage movement has found momentum with consecutive successes across some US states. Many Democrat candidates have already expressed their solidarity towards the movement and now the demand has take place in their election manifesto. The fast food workers in Iowa have called a strike on the very day of Republican debate there. The strike calling is probably aimed to embarrass the Republican President hopefuls.
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