Fast food workers went on strike across the nation this week, demanding a higher minimum wage.
The workers believe they deserve $15 an hour, which New York City fast food workers are slated to start making in a couple years after a recent law from Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The main problem associated with such a leap—the current federal minimum wage is $7.25—is that many other professions that arguably take a lot more skill and hard work make less than $15 an hour.
An oft-cited example is paramedics, which was pointed out to fast food workers in Detroit. A Fox reporter asked them why they deserve to earn more than paramedics.
“Because we do too much. We do more than we get paid,” protester Lakecha Jackson replied.
Some other professions that earn less than $15 an hour, as noted by Yahoo:
-Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides
-Bank tellers
-Agricultural equipment operators
-Taxi drivers and chauffeurs
-Bakers
-Farmworkers and farm laborers
Another protester, Tashara Carter, said it’s very hard to live off the current minimum wage in Michigan, $8.15 an hour.
“We can’t live off minimum wage. It’s just not possible,” she said.
“A day at my job is me doing everything from running the drive-thru to washing dishes to prepping food, so it’s just a lot of work for one person to do, and I work the night shift.”
The walkout of work took place in an estimated 270 cities across the United States.
Several thousand workers marched in Los Angeles, including home care and child care workers. The L.A. City Council has already approved a law that will raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020.
Joanna Morales, 24, who has worked at McDonald’s for two years, says an increase in pay would help her move out of her parent’s house.
“It would give security and stability,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “I would also like to go back to school.”
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