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A host of activists gathered this afternoon (October 15) outside a Mission Valley McDonald’s restaurant touting the release of a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, finding that $7 billion is spent by taxpayers each year on providing social benefits to food service workers.
Although gainfully employed, some 52 percent of fast food workers are still eligible for programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, housing assistance, and welfare and earned income tax credits. In California, the estimated cost from workers’ participation in these programs is at $717 million, highest of all states.
The report “details the cost to taxpayers in making up the difference in what fast food employers pay and what their employees need to survive,” said Peter Brownell, research director at the labor-friendly Center on Policy Initiatives, a local think tank. “The reality is that fast food companies can afford to pay every dollar that taxpayers are currently paying to support their employees and still turn a profit.”
Brownell went on to cite numbers from the National Employment Law Project indicating that the top ten fast food companies were responsible for $3.8 billion in benefits absorbed by their employees. The same companies reported $7.4 billion in profits.
Supporters of the “Fight for 15” campaign that drew a mix of labor activists, members of the Occupy movement, and food service employees to a nationwide one-day strike pushing for a $15 minimum wage in August were present, including Raquel, a Wendy’s worker and mother of seven.
“We’re asked to come to work with a smile on our face every day. But the job makes it really hard to keep that smile,” said Raquel, expressing her frustration through a translator. “We don’t believe we should have to rely on the government when we can work.”
Labor leader turned state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez was also on hand with comments, noting that California has already taken action to lift wages and eliminate some tax breaks for the fast food industry while calling for still stronger action.
“We, as taxpayers, have been subsidizing the fast food industry for years. Not just in public assistance, but in tax breaks by way of enterprise zones and other subsidies,” Gonzalez said.
A host of activists gathered this afternoon (October 15) outside a Mission Valley McDonald’s restaurant touting the release of a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, finding that $7 billion is spent by taxpayers each year on providing social benefits to food service workers.
Although gainfully employed, some 52 percent of fast food workers are still eligible for programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, housing assistance, and welfare and earned income tax credits. In California, the estimated cost from workers’ participation in these programs is at $717 million, highest of all states.
The report “details the cost to taxpayers in making up the difference in what fast food employers pay and what their employees need to survive,” said Peter Brownell, research director at the labor-friendly Center on Policy Initiatives, a local think tank. “The reality is that fast food companies can afford to pay every dollar that taxpayers are currently paying to support their employees and still turn a profit.”
Brownell went on to cite numbers from the National Employment Law Project indicating that the top ten fast food companies were responsible for $3.8 billion in benefits absorbed by their employees. The same companies reported $7.4 billion in profits.
Supporters of the “Fight for 15” campaign that drew a mix of labor activists, members of the Occupy movement, and food service employees to a nationwide one-day strike pushing for a $15 minimum wage in August were present, including Raquel, a Wendy’s worker and mother of seven.
“We’re asked to come to work with a smile on our face every day. But the job makes it really hard to keep that smile,” said Raquel, expressing her frustration through a translator. “We don’t believe we should have to rely on the government when we can work.”
Labor leader turned state Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez was also on hand with comments, noting that California has already taken action to lift wages and eliminate some tax breaks for the fast food industry while calling for still stronger action.
“We, as taxpayers, have been subsidizing the fast food industry for years. Not just in public assistance, but in tax breaks by way of enterprise zones and other subsidies,” Gonzalez said.