(WWJ) McDonald's employees in Detroit walked out of work today, marching and chanting as part of a 12-city strike.
The #Striketober wave of walkouts Tuesday is aimed as pressuring McDonald's to stamp out workplace sexual harassment and violence, according to a news release by the group "Fight for $15 and a Union."
Rallying at noon outside the fast food restaurant, on Mack Ave. near E. Warren, McDonald's employees in matching red t-shirts chanted, "This is what democracy looks like!" One sign read: "McDonald's: Step up for survivors."
BREAKING: Fast-food workers in Detroit are on strike TODAY!
— Detroit 15 (@Detroit_15) October 26, 2021
Workers in 12 cities across the U.S. are coming together and speaking up against sexual harassment at @McDonalds #striketober #FightFor15 #metoo pic.twitter.com/Fo6JBZYyf4
Striking workers are trying to draw attention to the importance of coming together in a union and the need to pass industry standards that would help protect fast food workers.
"I am 19 years old, just a few years older than the McDonald's worker in Pittsburgh who was raped on the job by her sex offender manager. McDonald's is refusing to take responsibility for L.H., just like it refuses to take responsibility for the countless women and teenagers who have endured harassment on the job at McDonald's stores across the globe," said Aaliyah Moore, a Detroit McDonald's worker. "I'm on strike today, and I'm calling on McDonald's to step up for workers like L.H. Workers should not feel uncomfortable or unsafe. We deserve more."
This is the fifth time workers in the "Fight for $15 and a Union" movement have gone on strike demanding McDonald's address an alleged "culture of harassment. " The group says little has changed since the first strike, as workers continue to report what some say is a widespread problem.
Angel Kincaid, who left McDonald's after two years, joined her former coworkers for the protest. "They're not making it worth it," she told WWJ's Sandra McNeill.
"The pay is just not worth it, and then on top of that you've got to deal with the things that managers and supervisors feel as if they can do what they want to do, and it's not right for the workers, the employees, the people who are putting in the hard work and dedication."
This month, more than 100,000 have been involve in labor protests, it what is being called one of the largest increases of organized labor this century.
