Dear 5849376, My name is Adriana Alvarez, and I am raising my two year-old-son Manny on the $9.15 an hour I am paid by McDonald's. In the four years I have worked for McDonald's, I have received only one twenty-five-cent raise, and I've had to drop out of college and use food stamps in order to feed my son. This is not the American dream. I went on strike on May 15 to demand that McDonald's pay a fair wage and respect my right to organize without interference. Let McDonald's know that you stand with me by signing my petition, which says the following: We call on McDonald's corporation to pay workers a fair wage and respect their right to organize without interference. No one who works for a corporation with over $5 billion a year in profits should be forced to use food stamps just to survive. Tell McDonald's: Pay your workers a fair wage and respect their right to organize. Every day when I come in for my shift, I am expected to count my cash register before clocking in and after clocking out at the end of my shift. This takes about 20-30 minutes each day, so McDonald's has been stealing my wages and my time every day for four years. I'm not alone, 84% of other McDonald's workers polled also experience wage theft. As a single mother, it's especially disheartening that I have so many obstacles standing in my way of success. Women in our country are paid just 77% of what men are paid, and that gap widens as we age. Organizing into a union is one of the best ways women have to advocate for equal pay. Women workers in a union make on average 14% more than women without the protections of a union. And we're 26% more likely to have health insurance. In Denmark, fast food workers make $21 an hour. Why? Because they have a union. Workers from Denmark, France, Finland, Switzerland, Germany and Norway have all joined together to fight for a living wage, and they won. Please let McDonald's know that you stand with me, and with all women who work at fast food restaurants, by signing my petition today. Will you join me and add your name to my petition urging McDonald's to pay its workers a fair wage? Thank you for your support. Adriana Alvarez |