Missoula to see fast food strikeline at 7:30am as first-ever national low-wage workers strike spreads across the nation

Call to "Strike Poverty" echoes across the country as Missoula workers join campaign for better pay of $15/hour and the right to organize
Fast food workers in Missoula will join the first-ever national strike of low-wage workers on August 29th, joining the national call to demand better pay of $15/hour and the right to organize without retaliation. Seattle fast food workers issued the call just 10 days ago.

Thursday’s strike will span 50 cities and every region of the continental United States. Follow events online at #829strike and #strikepoverty

Who: Fast food workers in Missoula

What: Join the national call to strike for better pay of $15/hour and the right to organize without retaliation.

When: 7:30 am - 9:00 am, Thursday August 29, 2013

WhereBurger King, 2601 N Reserve, Missoula, MT

Why: Seven of the ten fastest growing jobs in our country pay poverty wages — and when so many workers can't afford the basics, that slows the economy for everyone.

The fast food industry is making record profits, but workers are struggling; many need food stamps and other public assistance just to get through the month.

Although the minimum wage in Montana is just $7.80, an adult with one child would need to make $17.71 an hour working full time in the Missoula area just to afford the basics, according to a model developed by a professor at MIT: http://livingwage.mit.edu/places/3006350200.

In addition to Missoula, strikes will hit cities all over the country, including Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Raleigh, Houston, Memphis, New York, and Oakland.

The August 29th national multi-city strike comes amidst an extraordinary upsurge of worker unrest which has moved low-wage worker issues to the center of public attention. Highly profitable fast food corporations and other big employers have come under increasing pressure as workers continue to raise the question of how we can build a sustainable economy when the fastest-growing jobs pay poverty wages

About Good Jobs Missoula:
Inspired by the May 30th fast food strike in Seattle and other efforts across the country, Good Jobs Missoula is a new movement which seeks to build a sustainable future for the local economy from the middle out — by turning poverty-wage jobs in fast food and other industries into good jobs that offer opportunities for a better future and pay enough for workers to afford basic necessities like food, clothing and rent.
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Contact:
In Missoula: Jacquie Helt, 406-544-9682 Regional: Sage Wilson, sage@workingwa.org