College students to rally for minimum wage fast food workers across New York City
College students, many of them former minimum wage workers, joined the growing campaign to hike fast food workers’ pay to $15.
Students from six city schools plan to protest at fast food spots near their campuses Wednesday.
Columbia University student Lamar Richardson, 22 is planning to rally outside a Harlem McDonald’s.
“My first job was at McDonald’s,” said Columbia University student Lamar Richardson, 22, who plans to rally outside a Harlem McDonald’s to rally for higher pay. “I used to make minimum wage back in high school.”
“I can’t imagine making minimum wage as an adult and living in New York City,” added Richardson, a senior from North Carolina.
He is one of about 20 in a group called “Columbia Fight for 15,” part of the nationwide, union-backed Fight for 15 campaign, on his campus. Students at other schools, including The New School, NYU, The City College of New York, New York City College of Technology and Brooklyn College, have formed similar groups. Richardson said he joined at the beginning of this semester partly because he is worried about getting a job that pays enough after graduation.
“We’re inheriting this economy,” said Richardson.
The student protests are one of several events leading up to an April 15 nation-wide rally for low wage workers across different industries that organizers say will draw 60,000 in 200 cities.
Fast food companies say pay hikes would hurt the small and medium sized business owners who run their franchises — and would mean higher menu prices.
Source: New York Daily News