Restaurant union serving up protests for higher wages

The Restaurant Opportunities Center, a union front and ACORN knockoff, is extending its reach by targeting 100 cities for protests Thursday.

In a push for a higher minimum wage and more union members, ROC is also hiring a national campaign director to shepherd the center’s multimillion-dollar budget, partially plumped by taxpayer dollars.

Though registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a nonpartisan nonprofit, ROC is closely aligned with the Democratic Party and Big Labor, notably the Service Employees International Union and the AFL-CIO, said Mike Paranzino, spokesman for the group ROC Exposed.

With her insider credentials, ROC co-director Saru Jayaraman was at the White House in May to participate in an unannounced strategy session on raising the minimum wage.

Watchdog.org reported in August that ROC had a presence in a dozen cities. According to the center’s job posting, its new campaign director will supervise “22-23 local organizations around the country.”

Building on earlier protests at fast-food restaurants, ROC plans to stage demonstrations in 100 cities Thursday. Among the targets: Washington, D.C. and Boston, whose city councils are considering minimum wage hikes.

Click for more from Watchdog.org