Police handcuffed dozens of protesters who blocked traffic in dozens of cities across the country on Thursday in their latest attempt to escalate efforts to get McDonald's, Burger King and other fast-food companies to pay employees at least $15 an hour, according to Reuters.
The protests, which were planned by labor organizers for about 150 cities nationwide throughout Thursday, are part of a campaign called "Fight for $15," Reuters reported.
Organizers previously said they planned to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience on Thursday, which they predicted might lead to arrests, according to Reuters.
In New York, 19 people were arrested on Thursday for blocking traffic, with at least three people wearing McDonald's uniforms taken away by police officers after standing in the middle of a busy street near Times Square, Reuters reported.
About two dozen protesters were detained in Detroit after they wouldn't move out of a street near a McDonald's restaurant. Others were apprehended by police in Chicago, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Miami and Denver, according to Reuters.
"I take great pride in supporting Milwaukee workers as they risk arrest in pursuit of a brighter tomorrow for their families," Moore said in a statement through her communications director, Eric Harris, Reuters reported.
The "Fight for $15" campaign, which is backed financially by the Service Employees International Union and others, comes at a time when the wage gap between the poor and the rich has become a hot political issue, according to Reuters.
Many fast-food workers do not make much more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, which adds up to about $15,000 a year for 40 hours a week, Reuters reported.
The protests have not resulted in workers getting higher wages, but it has gotten media coverage, according to the AP. In Chicago, for instance, reporters observed supporters arriving on buses and sitting on a street between a McDonald's and Burger King, chanting: "We shall not be moved."
