( CNN ) -- On Thursday , the `` Fight for $ 15 '' enters a new phase , with strikes and demonstrations at fast-food restaurants not only in up to 150 cities across the United States but also in about 30 nations across the globe . Fast-food workers can already claim their first major victory right here at home . Recently , Seattle Mayor Ed Murray announced a plan to gradually lift the city 's minimum wage to $ 15 . As a result , 100,000 workers in the city -- including nearly every fast-food worker -- will get a raise . From a worker 's point of view , the agreement , expected to be passed by the City Council in coming weeks , is not perfect . Businesses with as many as 500 employees , for example , will have until 2019 to guarantee their workers $ 15 an hour in total compensation , and until 2021 to pay a full $ 15 in hourly wages . No doubt some businesses within this category could sustain a faster increase . Nor does the agreement mean that fast-food and other workers will be able to freely form a union at their workplaces , a critical step in solidifying wage gains made through policy and guaranteeing other core benefits such as fair work schedules and sick leave . But this should not detract from what Seattle 's workers and their advocates have accomplished -- thanks in large part to the fast-food worker strikes and the groundswell of local support it generated . Check out the minimum wage in your state . To date , the corporate leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Restaurant Association -- McDonald 's , Burger King and Wendy 's among them -- have greeted every proposal for a minimum wage of even $ 10 with dire predictions of economic chaos and a fusillade of lobbying cash to squash them . But businesses have never had uniform views on wages . Polling by the Small Business Majority reveals that 57 % of small businesses support raising the minimum wage . Thousands of Main Street businesses -- and larger firms -- voluntarily choose to pay their workers more because it lowers employee turnover , improves performance and generates spending in their own stores . These fissures in the business community have become open cracks in Seattle . Although Maud Daudon , president of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce , was one of only three members of the mayor 's Advisory Committee on income equality not to vote for the wage agreement , 10 other business leaders on the committee did . The businesses these individuals represent span companies as large as Fortune 300 member Nucor Steel and as modest as Tutta Bella , a local pizzeria . Undoubtedly , some business representatives on the mayor 's advisory group are backing a $ 15 wage out of pragmatism rather than principle . Seattle worker groups and advocates are well-organized and enjoy the support of the mayor , the entire City Council and most Seattle residents ; better to participate and be able to shape the final contours of the inevitable wage increase than oppose the process entirely . Nevertheless , businesses are n't charities , as conservatives like to say , and so the fact that a spectrum of Seattle businesses have signed off on a $ 15 minimum wage undercuts opponents ' predictions of business closures and mass layoffs -- for if that were the inevitable result of the increase , why would Seattle 's businesses swallow such a pill voluntarily ? Real-life wage increases in other cities show that Seattle 's businesses are in fact being quite rational . The San Jose Downtown Association reports that in the year since San Jose raised its minimum wage , business has grown by 3 % -- about 10,000 new businesses were registered -- unemployment has dropped from 7.6 % to 6.3 % , and the cost of enforcing the new wage has been negligible . And if Seattle can sustain $ 15 , why not other cities ? Movements are afoot in San Francisco , Oakland , Los Angeles , San Diego , Chicago , New York and Washington to raise those cities ' minimum wages well above the $ 10.10 mark that congressional Democrats and President Barack Obama are pushing nationally . Opponents of wage increases will be quick to paint Seattle as an outlier , but business conditions in all of these cities -- and many others -- are comparable enough to Seattle that there is no reason why they ca n't absorb a similarly gradual increase to $ 15 . See who the May 15 protesters are . In the end , the outcome in Seattle demonstrates what history has proved time and time again : When workers are well-organized and there is broad support for higher wages , even businesses that resist the idea are ultimately forced to pay more -- and they adjust . After experiencing years of wage stagnation while the wealthiest make money hand over fist , middle and working class Americans are rightfully insisting on a larger share of the nation 's prosperity . In years past , the corporate establishment may have been able to subdue this agitation with references to `` job creators '' and patronizing warnings against `` hurting those you want to help . '' But Americans -- low-wage workers , middle class families and even many business owners -- have had enough . The movement to create a decent life and a truly sustainable economy for us all can no longer be stifled . Look out : The wall of resistance to a $ 15 an hour minimum wage has been breached -- and the flood is coming to your city , too .
Fast-food and low wage workers in up to 150 U.S. cities , 30 nations will protest Thursday . Seattle 's mayor introduced plan to gradually lift the city 's minimum wage to $ 15 . Score: 6 Corporations fight any increase , but many businesses agree with hike in wage . It has worked in other cities , they say ; wage will be raised and businesses will adjust .