On Tuesday, fast-food workers in 15 different cities across the U.S. went on strike to demand $15 an hour wages from McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's. In the midst of a pandemic and ensuing unemployment crisis, Democrats are poised to meet that demand and increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour — a move that would boost incomes for 32 million workers across the country, many of whom work in jobs deemed essential and front-line during the pandemic — but a couple of Democratic senators look to be standing in the way.
"We're feeling really good. We think we've got a good shot," Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, told reporters last week. "We've got to raise the minimum wage to a living wage of $15 an hour and that's what the American people want and that's what I intend to do."
A Covid-19 relief bill was approved in the Democratic-controlled House Education and Labor Committee last week that includes increasing the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour, over a period of 4 years. But Democrats who narrowly control the Senate can't afford to lose any votes, so recent rumblings from Arizona's Krysten Sinema and West Virginia's Joe Manchin have progressive activists concerned....
