Fast food workers and community supporters passed out flyers at Jimmy John’s in Soulard today in the continuing fight for better wages and the right to unionize as part of the STL Can’t Survive on 7.35 campaign.
The flyers were passed out in the parking lot of the restaurant around Noon and called for better managerial treatment and higher wages.
Olivia Roffle is a college student who works at another fast food restaurant. She says that if Jimmy John’s wants better service, then they need to create a welcoming environment.
“If you can’t afford to pay rent, you can’t afford to get back and forth to work, the last thing you need on your back is for your employer to make you look humiliated in front of your coworkers, in front of people you don’t know, in front of these customers,” says the 23 year old. “They’re essentially telling the employees in here that they’re not worth the sandwiches that they make.”
The Soulard franchise came under fire when employees said that they were disciplined by having to holding signs up that outlined their mistakes.
Mark Miller, a minister at Westminster Presbyterian Church who also participated in last week’s efforts, hopes that people will take the information to heart.
“When you spend money, you’re making an ethical and a moral decision, and so that’s one of the reasons why I’m out here – hoping that we can raise consciousness and ultimately that we can support the workers in their call for $15 an hour and a union.”
Last week, the STL Can’t Survive On 7.35 campaign kicked off in St. Louis by staging two days of protests and rallying at fast food restaurants across the area. Since then reform efforts have also been made in Detroit and Milwaukee.