Thomas Perez the Secretary of Labor in the U.S. said the fast-food employees who have recently walked off their jobs for one day in cities across the country in an attempt for an increase in wages, are heirs to demonstrators during the civil right protests of more than 50 years ago.
He said the employers warning that the strikes to increase pay could cost the workers their jobs were offering an untrue choice.
Workers have been striking at Taco Bell and McDonald’s and they want an increase of pay to as much as $15 per hour, which would double the federal minimum wage currently that is currently $7.25.
Perez said the strikes have been fitting since they take place near the March on Washington speeches. Perez said it would be a march to receive economic justices.
Perez added it was a false choice saying workers either have job growth or job safety. It is also false to suggest the only way a business can survive is to pay low wages and no benefits. Perez added that there were a myriad of models throughout the U.S., were the contrary has been demonstrated.
Richard Trumka, the President of the AFL-CIO said to reporters that labor leaders had urged the White House administration to tweak the Affordable Care Act, fixing the inadvertent holes that might for instance, keep employees from working over 30 hours so as not to trigger coverage.
The tax in the law for the health care plans that are most expensive, including some unionized worker won in negotiations, is an additional thorn for labor.
