Workers Rally At Detroit McDonald's Demanding $15-An-Hour Wage
DETROIT (WWJ) - Dozens of low-wage workers gathered at a Detroit McDonald's on 8 Mile Road Tuesday to push for higher pay.
The protest is part of the "Fight For $15" movement to increase wages to $15 an hour.
Mya Hill, who's been working a Checker's restaurant in Wyandotte for four years, says she makes $8.15 an hour — Michigan's minimum.
Her fiancée makes the same wage at McDonald's; and, she said, with a 2-year-old at home, it's been difficult.
"The money situation is tight, very tight actually," she told WWJ Newsradio 950. "But sometimes it's OK to call DTE (Energy) and tell them, 'OK, can I get an extension?' And then when you get your next paycheck you can pay them off, and you can pay someone your rent and things.
"You know, you try to make it stretch and you try to make it work," she said. "It doesn't always work out, but you try to make it work."
To opponents who say those who make low wages should got back to college, Hill — who has two-year Surgical Tech degree from Baker College — says: "First off, school isn't for everybody...And for me, to go to school and still have to leave school to work at a minimum wage job, is...you know, what you have to do."
Thursday's protest included workers from other fast food restaurants, as well as some in the health industry.
"In health care, they are a little higher than minimum wage, but they're still making less than $15 an hour, and they still don't have a union, and they still are fighting," Hill said.
Organizers say the "Fight for $15" movement — which began over two years ago with a few hundred people in New York — now includes thousands of workers in nearly 200 cities, as well as overseas.
"We will continue to stand up, speak out and grow this movement until we win," said the Rev. W.J. Rideout III, pastor of All God's People's church in Detroit, in a media release.
Similar protests were happening Tuesday at other restaurants around Michigan and across the U.S.
[Correction: Earlier Tuesday, WWJ and CBSDetroit.com inaccurately reported this protest took place at Checker's in Wyondotte. The article has been updated to reflect the correct location.]
