UR students joined striking fast-food workers from major chains including Wendy’s, Burger King, and Tim Horton’s in a show of solidarity on Thursday, Dec. 4, as the workers protested for union rights and a minimum wage of $15 an hour. The workers gathered at the intersection of Mt. Hope and Elmwood Avenues at 6am, a peak hour of the morning rush, and South and Elmwood Avenues at 11:30am.
The protesters, along with thousands of others in 190 cities across the country, were striking as part of the nationwide Fight for $15 movement. The absence of the workers from their jobs was felt by their employers. As a result of the strike, the Tim Horton’s on Mt. Hope temporarily closed in the middle of the morning because so many of its workers were absent.
Chris Whisman, a first-time striker who works at Tim Horton’s, explained why he joined.
“A buddy of mine at work told me about it,” he said. “We were tired of the way the boss was treating us and how we weren’t making enough money to afford everyday household goods.”
Kim Ramos, who works as a manager at Wendy’s, agreed that current wages aren’t high enough.
“To be able to buy food and clothes and pay the bills, we really are left with nothing at all,” she said, with her and her family “basically living check to check.” She added that workers’ rights are also lacking, recalling that when she was once hospitalized, she had to come back to work since, with no sick pay, she “couldn’t afford to be out of work.”
Metro Justice, a grassroots Rochester organization “working for social and economic justice,” created a Facebook event for the protests and sought support from faith groups, churches, labor unions, and student groups from around the city.
Junior Miles Meth said that the 6 a.m. protest “had a good turnout” of about 15 UR students. Also, students from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), of which he is a member, and the Black Student Union went to Metro Justice’s community partner table a few weeks ago.
Meth and another member of SDS, senior Julie Elliot, noted the success of UR’s service workers in winning a $15 minimum wage for workers that have been employed for five years.
“We want that for the rest of our community,” Elliot said.
As for why UR students should be invested in the Fight For $15, Meth explained, “I think that students are in a unique position because we have a lot of time on our hands. Often, our parents are still supporting us but we have a ton of freedom.”
He added that it’s important to “practice what we preach,” as “a lot of students are taking different social sciences and humanities, learning about all these kinds of things, but we really need to get out and come to allies and show our support directly.”
Lai is a member of
the class of 2018.
