More than 124,000 people have signed an online petition calling for fast food restaurants to double employee wages, the sponsor of the petition said Tuesday one day after fast food employees across the country walked off their jobs, dpa reported.
"We can't survive on 7.25!" the organization Fast Food Forward said at its website, referring to the current federal minimum wage of 7.25 dollars per hour typically earned by fast food workers.
"In America, people who work hard should be able to afford basic necessities like groceries, rent, childcare and transportation," said Fast Food Forward, a campaign for better employee wages. "While fast food corporations reap the benefits of record profits, workers are barely getting by - many are forced to be on public assistance despite having a job."
The organization argues that higher pay for fast food workers would benefit workers and strengthen the overall economy.
Employees at US fast food restaurants across the country struck Monday to demand companies like McDonald's and KFC to increase their wages to 15 dollars an hour, according to media reports.
Thousands of workers stood in front of restaurants in New York, Chicago, Detroit and four other US cities with signs stating that their pay wasn't enough to care for their families.
Last week President Barack Obama reaffirmed his call for an improved minimum wage in a speech in Galesburg, Illinois. In February, the president used his state of the union speech to campaign for the federal minimum wage to be raised to 9 dollars an hour.