Broadway Qdoba employee Larita Mcfall decided to be part of the walkout and hopes she’ll help make things better — and still have a job (Image: CHS)

UPDATE: Shouting “Hey hey. Ho Ho. These low wages have to go,” a contingent of around 60 protesters against low wages and poor working conditions for fast food employees made their way down Broadway Thursday, starting with a stop at national Mexican food chain Qdoba.

Though many faces from the Occupy Seattle movement dotted the crowd and a well-resourced support team including a shuttle van for organizers hovered on the periphery, not everybody had protested on Broadway before.

“I’m not with Occupy and I hope I still have a job but things need to change,” Larita Mcfall told CHS.

She said she been working at the Broadway Qdoba for a few months and had been scheduled today but says she decided to stand with the protest. “I hope that what we do is going to be recognized. These issues are still relevant today, she said. She said she’s on the schedule to work again on Friday.

After gathering and chanting outside Qdoba, the crowd made its way south on Broadway toward Subway past busy restaurants — many local chain in nature.

The Subway at Broadway and John was open and busy serving two customers as the protesters settled in outside for more chants and a continued demonstration on the sidewalks marked with spray-on chalk messages supporting the cause.

(Image: Good Jobs Seattle)

Original report: You’ll want to make different plans for lunch. On a Hill where the big fast food chains have seemingly not been able to maintain bastions in recent years, organizers working with fast food workers to strike against these corporations will gather Thursday morning for a noontime march to downtown.

The local effort, organized by the Good Jobs Seattle coalition, joins a ripple of labor activity in the fast food and service industries across the country following reports of rampant abuse of labor practices in the industries.

The group is expected to begin gathering in the Broadway area before the march begins at Broadway and Pine at 11:30 AM. Organizers say it is part of a one-day, “citywide strike against poverty-wage jobs, calling for better pay and the right to organize without retaliation.”

Though Capitol Hill’s food and drink economy has become a powerhouse in the city in recent years, the day’s activities do not appear to target the many independent and local chains that have driven much of the area’s recent growth.

Workers issue call to “Strike Poverty and Raise Seattle” as fast-food strikes spread across the city
Strikelines going up at fast food outlets across Seattle as wave of national unrest hits the West Coast
Local fast food workers echo national call for $15 and the right to organize

It’s hardly business as usual at the city’s fast food outlets today, as a citywide strike that launched late last night when striking workers forced a Ballard Taco Bell to close early expands to several dozen Burger King, McDonald’s, Subway, Arby’s, and other national fast food chains across the city.

(High-quality footage of Ballard strikelines last night available for use.)

Uniting under a call to “Strike Poverty – Raise Seattle” with a living wage of $15/hour and the right to organize without retaliation, fast food workers across the city have launched a movement they’re calling “Good Jobs Seattle”. They’re seeking to build a sustainable future for Seattle’s economy by ensuring that fast food chains do what every profitable corporation ought to do: pay workers better than poverty wages and offer them opportunities for a better future.

WHO: Fast food workers from dozens of Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and other national fast food chain outlets across the city.

WHAT: Launch citywide strike against poverty-wage jobs, calling for better pay and the right to organize without retaliation.

WHEN & WHERE: TODAY, Thursday May 30th.

Fast food strikelines launched late last night at a Ballard Taco Bell, and will extend to multiple locations and multiple chains throughout the day.

Locations include:
* 6:30 am: Lake City: Burger King, 14340 15th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98125

* 9:30 am: University District: Taco del Mar, 1313 NE 42nd St, Seattle, WA 98105

* 10:30 am: SoDo/Georgetown: Strikelines hit multiple fast food outlets in the area. Workers will converge at Arby’s at 601 S Michigan, Seattle, WA 98108

* 11:30 am: Capitol Hill: Strikelines expand to multiple fast food outlets in Capitol Hill, including Chipotle, Subway, and Qdoba. Workers will converge at East Pine & Broadway.

* And dozens of additional restaurants throughout the city.

Major rally and march where community supporters will join striking fast food workers:

* 4:30 pm, Denny Park (100 Dexter Ave N, Seattle, WA 98109), followed by a march to nearby fast food locations, including McDonald’s.

Note: Follow the latest developments at #strikepoverty

More Information:
Seattle is the latest city to join the national surge of job actions by fast food workers, which has spread from New York to Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, and Milwaukee. This is part of a broader explosion of unrest by poverty-wage workers that includes port truck drivers in Seattle who ground container traffic to a halt by walking off the job last February, Walmart workers across the country who struck on Black Friday, and workers at Sea-Tac Airport who are organizing for good jobs and living wages.

A Good Jobs Seattle fast food fact sheet is available online.

Striking fast food workers are united in Good Jobs Seattle, a growing movement which seeks to build a sustainable future for Seattle’s economy from the bottom up — by turning poverty-wage jobs in fast food and other industries into good jobs that offer opportunities for a better future and pay enough for workers to afford basic necessities like food, clothing and rent. Good Jobs Seattle is supported by organizations including Washington Community Action Network, Working Washington, OneAmerica, and hundreds of grassroots supporters.