On Tuesday, fast food workers in Charlotte, Durham, and Marion gathered outside restaurants to protest their current $7.25 an hour wage and demand a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour. Currently, the minimum wage in North and South Carolina (and another 18 states) is $7.25 per hour, the lowest allowed. A worker in Durham says it has been 12 years since the minimum wage went up and this is making poverty and mental health bigger issues for workers. North Carolina Rep. Pricey Harrison says it is impossible to live on the minimum wage and is sponsoring a bill that would raise the minimum wage in phases to be $15 an hour by January 1, 2023.
See "Fast Food workers are demanding at least $15 an hour", Hank Lee, WCNC, July 21, 2021