Stakeholder #3

The last stakeholder I decided to blog about is probably the most important. This stakeholder is the actual organization that was the backbone of this entire rally, Fight For $15. Without this group, this rally either wouldn't have happened, or not in the scale that it did.

1. Can you describe this third stakeholder in 200-250 words?

Fight For $15 is a fast food worker coalition. They are leading a nationwide movement to fight for a $15 an hour minimum wage as well as the right for workers to form a union. This group is strongly backed by the SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, in an effort to organize fast-food workers. This movement relies on strength in numbers, besides people at rallies, via online petitions and subscribers.

Fight for $15 is very easy to find on social media. They are definitely getting their message out there with a quarter of a million Facebook followers and twenty one thousand followers on Twitter.

The 2016 elections are where Fight For $15 hopes to make the biggest different. They hope to do this by rallying voters to vote for candidates that support the $15 minimum wage. Their website has a link for people to "sign the Fight For $15 voter pledge." And I'm sure that McDonalds is aware of the online petition directed at them, considering you can't miss it on the website.

Social media and the Fight For $15 website make it extremely easy to get in touch with the leaders of the group that are effectively organizing rallies in cities across the nation. But what if you are unable to attend a rally? In that case you can read the "How to go on a one-day strike," that the organizers provide on the website.

2. Can you identify THREE specific claims being made by this stakeholder?

"In April we marched in the streets and won a raise for over 800K workers. If you make it under $15, join us #fightfor15" Gotten from Tweet below.

Fight For $15 Twitter Screenshot. February 2015

"Many studies show that paying workers more raises prices by only a few cents." LA Fight For $15

"Because our pay is too low, we struggle to pay our bills and put food on the table. McDonald's answer? Go on food stamps." Fight For $15 main website


3. Can you explain how valid these claims are? Objectively, how much weight do these claims carry? 

The first claim is credible because it is back by the passage of a law raising the minimum wage in Los Angeles. According to the LA Times "The L.A. City Council and L.A. County Board of Supervisors have already approved a law that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020." Source

The second claim appears to be fact-based because they reference studies that support their position. However, they do not provide where to find the actually studies that they mention. While the claim does not have much obvious credibility without the studies mentioned, it definitely plays on the reader's emotions by making it seem that these large corporations are simply being greedy when it comes to a minimum wage because it would apparently not affect their overall profit.

This last claim is hugely emotion-based. Hearing that McDonalds would say that to a struggling worker would anger people. However, I am not convinced that this is what McDonalds stands for. Through some research, I found that this was simply a comment made my a McDonald's hotline employee to a frustrated employee calling about her wages. In other words, not a McDonald's policy. However, there is no doubt that a worker making $8/hour cannot support their family.

4. Can you explain how these claims are similar and/or different to the other stakeholders?

Compared to the other stakeholders I have acquired, this is by far the most important. While my other sources provide excellent information about the rally and what is happening with this controversy, Fight For $15 is the best source because it gives me first-hand information on what they stand for, what the rallies are about, and more.