NCC Council President Chris Bullock Takes A Stand On Poverty Wage Report: "These Workers Need A Triple Whopper Raise!”"

(Ezra Temko images)

Taxpayers picking up annual $7 billion tab for low-wage fast-food jobs

Responding to new research showing how fast-food poverty jobs force workers to rely on public assistance, groups demand New Castle County hold a hearing on poverty wages

 

***Click here for a copy of the report***

Wilmington— Six weeks after Wilmington fast food workers made history by joining the nation’s largest ever fast food strike, local elected officials, fast-food workers, clergy and community leaders gathered to unveil a new report from UC, Berkeley Fast Food Public Costs detailing how fast-food companies’ low wages and lack of benefits force workers to rely on taxpayer-funded public assistance.

“I don’t earn enough to live on working at Wendy’s so I am forced to go on public assistance. I currently am on Medicaid and food stamps. Without these programs I don’t know how I’d get by,” said fast-food worker, Howard White who joined the August 29 fast food strike.

The fast-food industry costs American taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually because its jobs pay so little that 52 percent of fast-food workers are forced to enroll their families in public assistance programs, according to a report released today by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

"Rather than paying a living wage, the fast-food industry relies on taxpayers to subsidize the wages of their employees,” said Ezra Temko of the Delaware chapter of Americans for Democratic Action. “It's wrong and it's time to hold fast-food companies accountable."

 

“Delaware deserves better than fast food poverty wages,” said Rep. John Kowalko (D-25).

 

When we seek dividend over dignity, when we pursue profits over people, when we drive up the bottom line by driving down the wages of workers, we have departed from our divine directive of living as a compassionate people, said Reverend Doug Gerdts, First and Central Presbyterian Church.

Fast-food is a $200 billion a year industry. The median wage for core front-line workers at fast-food restaurants nationally is $8.69 an hour. Only 13 percent of the jobs provide health benefits.

“When my nine year-old daughter needed glasses, I was able to afford it because of Medicaid. My wife and I both work in fast-food and we’re forced to rely on public assistance,” said Ben Hunter, a fast food worker who joined the August 29 strike. “Even though I want to work full-time, I only get around 30-35 hour per week. Working part time at $7.25 per hour is not enough to take care of a family.”

The report found that the fast-food industry’s low wages and meager benefits, often accompanied by part-time hours, combine to create substantial public assistance needs, including:

·      Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, $3.9 billion per year

·      Earned Income Tax Credit payments, $1.95 billion per year

·      The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, $1.04 billion per year;

·      Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, $82 million per year

 

The researchers said families of front-line fast-food workers are enrolled in public programs at more than twice the rate of the overall workforce.

“This is not how our country is supposed to work. Anyone who works hard shouldn’t have to depend on food stamps to get by,” said Daisy Cruz, Director of 32BJ SEIU Mid-Atlantic. “Americans shouldn’t have to pay to help profitable corporations turn more and more jobs into ones that don’t pay enough to live on.”

In response to the report, fast-food workers and community leaders urged New Castle County to take a hard look at the impact of poverty wages on the local economy.

“The cost is public because taxpayers bear it. Yet it remains hidden in local and national policy debates about poverty, employment and public spending,” said Darlene Battle, Director of the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement. “Now is the time for New Castle County to hold a hearing on the public cost of low-wage jobs in Wilmington.”

 

New Castle County Council President Chris Bullock was on hand to lend his support to the workers. “I will work with my colleagues to pass legislation to help this cause. These workers need a triple whopper raise!”

 

In August, fast-food workers in Wilmington and 60 other cities across the country went on strike  demanding $15 per hour and a union, so they don’t have to rely on public assistance.

When asked about plans to strike in the future, Hunter replied, “Unless we take a stand, we’ll only get what they give us. We’re still here demanding $15 per hour, a union and respect.”

And (News Journal) Cori Anne Natoli reports ~ WORKING POOR REPORT - Study critical of large fast-food companies

The Hunters, Benjamin, 43, and Scharneka, 30, of Wilmington, work at Burger King on Concord Pike in Talley­ville. On Tuesday, they were two of 20 or so fast-food workers who gathered with a handful of officials at a press confer­ence in the restaurant parking lot to once again remind corporate parents that they can’t survive on $7.25, the fed­eral and state minimum wage. “We are not surviving on $7.25 and cannot afford the things we need for a child,” Hunter said.

........Rather than pay a so-called living wage, the industry relies on taxpayers to subsidize the wages of employees, said Ezra Temko, from the Delaware Chap­ter of Americans for Democratic Ac­tion, adding, “It’s wrong and it’s time to hold fast-food companies accountable.” Fast food is a $200 billion per year in­dustry with a median worker wage of $8.69 per hour, with 13 percent of em­ployers providing health benefits, ac­cording to Julie Blust, communications specialist with 32BJ SEIU.

The industry costs taxpayers about “$7 billion annually because its jobs pay so little that 52 percent of fast-food workers are forced to enroll their fam­ilies in public assistance programs,” ac­cording to information provided by the groups. The jobs are more likely to be part-time, with the median week of 30 hours, compared with 40, the report shows. More than two out of five work­ers are either African-American (23 per­cent), or Latino (20 percent) and 73 per­cent are women, the report said. “This is not how our country is sup­posed to work,” said Daisy Cruz, direc­tor of 32BJ SEIU Mid-Atlantic. “Anyone who works hard shouldn’t have to de­pend on food stamps to get by.”

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