Twenty employees of Snarf's Sandwiches were let go from their positions at the food establishment Sunday in a decision being criticized, just days before Christmas The Chicago Grid reported.
The employees had protested in a national fight for higher wages according to the Grid.
"Three days before Christmas and not even a call," Deivid Rojas, communications director for the workers organizing committee of Chicago told The Grid. "It's not fair that management and the corporation is treating [employees] this way."
Employees received an e-mail 5 p.m. Sunday notifying them that their job was gone.
The company states, the choice did not have anything to do with the the employees participation in the protests, but rather because the owners want to renovate in order to maintain strides with their competitors.
"During the Christmas holiday we're pretty slow," Jill Preston, president of marketing at Snarf told The Grid. "The restaurant's usually three quarters closed. This does happen to coincide, but this is something we've had planned for awhile."
Employees walked off the job in 100 cities throughout the United States.
The Dec. 5 protests were the second demonstrations since fast food workers last stood up for higher wages in August. Participants fought for higher wages of up to $15 an hour rather than their current hourly rate of $7.25 an hour or $15,000 a year. This comes after the Service
Employees International Union's continued efforts to raise awareness about low wages, and fight for more. Over two million members work in the healthcare, and janitorial fields participated among others.
The average pay for fast food workers across the United States is a little more than $9 an hour which amounts to $18,500 a year CNN Money reported. The number is less than the Census Bureau's poverty income threshold level of $23,000 for a family with four people.
