25-foot-long banner over I-5 during rush hour, leafletting outside stores, and more
With 25-foot-long banners over I-5, thousands of flyers, person-to-person outreach at fast food restaurants and more, the call to Boycott McPoverty continues to sweep through Seattle today.
Today’s grassroots effort comes a day after fast food workers and supporters handed out brown “Boycott McPoverty” lunch bags at Westlake Park, reaching huge numbers of downtown workers & shoppers with the call to join Thursday’s citywide big burger boycott & support the $15 movement by not eating at McDonald’s, Burger King, or Wendy’s that day.
Who: Fast food workers and other supporters of $15 for Seattle
What: Banner, leaflet, poster, and reach out to fast food customers to support Thursday’s citywide Boycott McPovertyeffort
When & Where: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 at multiple locations. - 7:30am - 8:30am: Giant 25-foot-long banner on Madison St overpass over northbound I–5 traffic, and Olive Way overpass over southbound I–5 traffic. - ongoing throughout the day: leafleting & postering in multiple neighborhoods outside various fast food restaurants. - 5:00pm - 6:00 pm: Banners displayed in various locations across the city. Specific locations to be announced during the day. (Contact sage@workingwa.org, follow #mcpoverty on twitter or check our map for updates on specific leafleting, postering, and bannering events as the day goes on.)
Fast food workers have called for a one-day boycott of all 25 McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s locations within Seattle city limits as a show of support for raising pay to $15 an hour.
The three big burger chains make billions of dollars by serving billions of burgers to billions of customers – but they still pay their workers poverty wages. Higher wages would mean workers could afford to support themselves and pay for basics like food, rent, and transportation. Our economy would benefit too — because more people making more money means more customers for every business out there.
Leafletting, bannering, and other outreach will continue throughout the week, leading up to Thursday’s boycott at all 25 big burger chain locations in the city.
More information:
- Higher-income people actually eat fast food more often that poor people — 51% of people with incomes above $75,000 report they eat fast food weekly, compared to only 39% of people with incomes below $20,000. (A full-time worker paid the Washington State minimum wage would have an income of $19,385/year.)
- Organizations endorsing the call to Boycott McPoverty include Working Washington, Fifteen Now, Good Jobs Seattle, Martin Luther King County Labor Council, OneAmerica, People’s Institute NW, SEIU 775NW, SEIU 1199NW, Teamsters 117, Tyree Scott Freedom School, and Washington CAN.
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Contact: Sage Wilson, sage@workingwa.org