N.C. workers protest wage theft by fast food chains

McDonald's and Burger King called out at speak out

Chanting "we can't survive on seven twenty-five" and "no more wage theft", fast food workers in Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte braved near-freezing temperatures and light rain on Tuesday to join workers in some thirty other cities who are protesting wage theft by McDonald's and other fast food restaurants.

Watch video from the Raleigh protest:

From the Greensboro News & Record:

“It is cold out here today, but that is not going to stop us,” said Carolyn Smith, the state director for Working America, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.

“Everyday millions of American workers go to full-time jobs but struggle to support their families. Workers are no longer wanting to be silent. We are standing up, we are speaking up and we are calling on McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants to raise wages and allow workers to organize.”

View a picture slide show of the Greensboro protest by Triad City Beat.

“Jobs should lift workers out of poverty, not trap them in it. A healthy economy depends on businesses paying their workers fair wages.” -- Carolyn Smith, 3/18/14

Coverage by the Charlotte Business Journal:

Tuesday's demonstrations came as McDonald's Corp. (NYSE:MCD) is reviewing class-action lawsuits in New York, California and Michigan for what workers describe as “wage theft,” Forbes magazine reports.

The lawsuits contend that employees of McDonald’s and its franchisees have been forced to work off the clock and through breaks, effectively  shaving hours and dollars off their paychecks and sometimes pushing wages below the federal minimum of $7.25 per hour, Forbes' report says.

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