Marchers in Kansas City demand higher wages and union representation

More than 150 marchers crossed the Prospect Avenue bridge in downtown Kansas City on Saturday morning, demanding a $15 hourly wage and collective bargaining for fast-food workers.

“Selma is now!” the marchers chanted in an echo of the civil rights march on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., 50 years ago on Saturday.

Unlike that 1965 march, though, there was no violence in Kansas City. Protesters knelt briefly on the bridge over Interstate 70, blocked traffic and prayed.

Police officers asked the marchers to move to the sidewalk and they did. There were no arrests.

The marchers said they wanted a $15-an-hour wage for the city’s fast-food workers because the current wage, often less than $9 an hour, did not provide enough money to raise a family.

“We don’t make enough to survive,” said Dana Wittman of Kansas City. “Most of the time, I have to go without dinner so I can make formula” for her grandchild.

Latoya Caldwell said she works at a fast-food store on Truman Road. “Life in fast food is not easy,” she said. “We get burned. We get disrespected by managers. We have low-pay wages.”

Owners of fast-food restaurants have said a higher wage would mean fewer jobs, and meals from their establishments would be more expensive. Some have said a required $15 hourly wage might cause them to close.

“Many restaurateurs would be forced to limit hiring, increase prices, cut employee hours or implement a combination of all three” to pay for higher employee costs, the National Restaurant Association says.

But Osmara Ortiz of Kansas City said her low wages at a fast-food restaurant mean her daughter must go without.

“She asks me for shoes or clothes, and it’s hard for me to tell her no,” Ortiz said. “I wish to give her what she deserves, but I can’t.”

The march was organized by Stand Up KC and the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity.

Organizers said they were focused on the fast-food industry but also want higher wages for adjunct professors, health care workers and others.

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Marchers in Kansas City demand higher wages and union representation."