Working poverty can only be defeated by worker unity.
Representatives from 33 countries met up in New York last week for a conference. Minimum wage in "land of the free" is $7.25. People are starving themselves to feed their children, people are homeless, people are working two jobs. But the benefit of having this meeting with different countries is that you can catch them out on their excuses. Corporations like McDonald's frequently lie to our workers here as well as in NZ and say they can't afford to pay $15 an hour. Denmark workers make $21 an hour and Switzerland is $27 an hour so now we know that's bullshit. Fast food workers in New Zealand have fought the same battle for a long time, but the difference is, in New Zealand we are entitled to a union (Unite Union), which collectively fights for workers rights with thousands of workers pushing for better conditions. In America, they don't have unions in fast food. This means workers can get fired for standing up for their rights and it's just wrong