ATLANTA—“We work, we sweat, put $25 on our check!” These were the words bouncing off buildings in downtown Atlanta on Friday during the 2026 National Jobs With Justice conference. Waffle House workers, flanked by labor allies, descended on the company’s Centennial Park location to raise the demand for higher wages and respect for workers’ organizing.
Since 2023, the Union of Southern Service Workers has been waging a campaign against the Southern fast food staple. The union’s three key demands are $25/hr for all workers, 24/7 security at all locations, and an end to mandatory meal deductions. Waffle House takes $3.75 from workers’ paychecks every day to offset meal costs, whether workers actually eat or not.
The rally came exactly one month before the June 15 kickoff of the FIFA World Cup in Atlanta. The first match will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, only half a mile from the Centennial Park location. According to Atlanta News First, hotel prices are shooting up by 300% during the World Cup. This is coming at a time when more than 4,600 people are living in hotels long-term in neighboring DeKalb County, including 1,635 children.
Rally attendees gathered before the Olympic rings in Centennial Park to listen to speakers addressing the rampant poverty all too common for low-wage service workers.
One of these speakers was Atlanta City Council member Kelsea Bond. Bond connected the workers’ struggle to the fascist administration in Washington, DC. According to Bond, defeating MAGA will require a coordinated effort between Waffle House workers on the shop floor and voters at the polls to bring down the administration and its billionaire backers.
Another worker addressing the crowd was South Carolina-based USSW Worker Elected Representative Harmoni Harmon. Harmoni, a former Waffle House worker, delivered testimony inside the store to management during the rally to let the company know the workers’ demands.
The union is still waiting for a response addressing its demands and statements.
Waffle House workers taking action against the company is nothing new. Just a year ago, workers in Marietta, Georgia, went on a three-day strike to protest the company’s lack of security for the workers.
However, the action this weekend was different. In contrast to the dozens of supporters present at previous actions, this action had hundreds of allies marching behind the Waffle House workers’ banner, reading: “Our Dedication Deserves Dignity. PAY US $25!”
One of those workers was Billy, a server and grill operator for the company for the past year and a half. He is one of many Waffle House workers protesting the company’s wages and treatment of workers. “The conditions that Waffle House workers are under are deplorable and horrible,” he plainly told supporters asking him about his job.
Billy wasn’t the only one fired up. Workers with Jobs for Justice and unions like IUPAT and Teamsters raised their voices and fists to let the billion-dollar company know that the current wages for their workers are unacceptable.
The rally ended with the group circling back around past the Waffle House. As the protestors marched under the yellow sign, they chanted “We’ll be back!”
And workers like Billy hope to come back with even more workers and allies. Workers “need to get involved in the movement,” he told People’s World. For him, the reason to do so is simple. “Solidarity brings organization, organization brings change.”
Poverty wages are no longer acceptable to workers, and according to the union, change is certainly coming.
We hope you appreciated this article. At People’s World, we believe news and information should be free and accessible to all, but we need your help. Our journalism is free of corporate influence and paywalls because we are totally reader-supported. Only you, our readers and supporters, make this possible. If you enjoy reading People’s World and the stories we bring you, please support our work by donating or becoming a monthly sustainer today. Thank you!
CONTRIBUTOR
