#STL735 Rally Takes to the Streets in the Delmar Loop

Strike efforts began on Wednesday at Jimmy John's and McDonald's locations, and continue this week across the area.

Striking fast food workers across St. Louis took to the streets Thursday afternoon in University City.  On Wednesday workers from Jimmy John's and McDonald's stores walked out in a push for respect through better pay and improved working conditions. Shannon Garth-Rhodes, spokesperson with the effort, said some Jimmy John's employees were subjected to forms of mental abuse. Garth-Rhodes told Patch this is part of a fight for the right to form a union without retaliation. "Workers will strike for a $15 per hour wage floor and to take a stand against unfair retaliation targeting workers who are sticking together to speak out for better jobs," she said. Striking workers gathered at Kingsland and Delmar for a rally march to Church's Chicken. A …

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Vintage Vinyl Owner Talks Minimum Wage Hike

Lew Prince is quoted in Reuters story.

Should Congress Raise the Nation's Minimum Wage?

A bill has been introduced in the United States Senate that would raise the federal minimum wage to $9.88 an hour. Good or bad idea?

A U.S. Senator from Iowa had introduced legislation in Congress that would raise the national minimum wage by more than $2. Now, the national minimum wage stands at $7.25 an hour. U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat, wants that minimum wage workers making $9.88 an hour. NPR reports that, according to the Economic Policy Institute, if Harkin has his way and the minimum wage was actually raised to $9.88 an hour, it would increase wages for 30 million Americans — 10 percent of the country. Harkin, in the NPR report, argues that most people making the minimum wage spend just about all their money because they don't have much left. Giving them a raise, he says, woudl mean more for the nation's gross domestic product. From the report: Harkin …

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