NEW YORK (AP) — Organizers say it’s the biggest-ever mobilization of workers in the United States. Airport workers, Wal-Mart employees and others have said they’ll join in protests across the country today calling for $15-an-hour pay for fast-food workers and other low-wage workers.
In Jackson, Mississippi, this morning, around 30 people demonstrated in a McDonald’s before being kicked out; organizers said about half of them were McDonald’s workers. One of the lead demonstrators was arrested for trespassing and police said the store manager said he plans to press charges.
Earlier in the morning, protesters rallied outside a McDonald’s in New York City.
Organizers say protests for higher pay and unions for low-wage workers are planned for more than 230 U.S. cities and college campuses, as well as dozens of cities overseas.
An organizer says McDonald’s remains a focus of the protests. He says the company’s recently-announced pay increase shows that “the workers are winning.” McDonald’s earlier this month said it would raise its starting salary to $1 above the local minimum wage. But that only applies to company-owned stores — which account for about 10 percent of McDonald’s locations.
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