Millions of fast-food protesters rally in US in one-day strike

Millions of low-wage fast-food workers and their supporters in the US have joined hands at a nationwide "Fight for 15" protest and strike to call for a $15 minimum wage and union rights.

The Fight for 15 campaign, a three-year-old nationwide labor movement seeking wage hikes at low-paying fast-food restaurants, launched a one-day strike  in 270 cities across the United States on Tuesday.

Tuesday's is considered to be the largest demonstration the group has organized to date, according to the organizers.

In Los Angeles County, the protesters assembled in front of a McDonald's  to head for the Los Angeles City Hall in their march.

The L.A. City Council and L.A. County Board of Supervisors have already approved a law that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. Workers in L.A. are marching to show solidarity with workers in other cities that do not have the minimum wage, as well as to call for a union.

Also in New York,  Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a raise in the wage to a minimum of $15.

“I believe that if you work hard and work full time, you should not be condemned to live in poverty,” he Cuomo in the statement, adding that “families nationwide continue to be left behind by an insufficient minimum wage. And it’s time that changed.”

Fast-food strikers also got a boost to their campaign, when Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton personally tweeted out her support ahead of a national day of protests.

"Your advocacy is changing our country for the better," Clinton told protesters.

Clinton had previously voiced her support for the campaign, if not specifically for a nationwide wage floor of $15. Unlike her leading primary contender, Senator Bernie Sanders, the former secretary of state said $15 wouldn’t necessarily be appropriate for areas with lower costs of living, instead advocating for a Democratic proposal of $12 now in Congress.

Sanders addressed the crowd at a Fight for 15 gathering held in the rain in Washington, DC, saying "Thank you all for coming out and standing up for justice, standing up for dignity, and for saying loudly and clearly that people in this country that work 40 hours a week deserve a living wage."

“In America, today what we are seeing is the richest people becoming richer, and almost everybody else becoming poorer,” said the democratic candidate, pictured above at the event, attended by dozens of striking US Senate cafeteria workers. “There are a number of senators who get served by people right here, and they should know that if you are serving them, they have got to start serving you,”

The Fight for 15 is bankrolled by the Service Employees International Union, one of the most influential labor groups in US politics. The union has not yet endorsed a Democratic candidate for president, and it is not clear whether it will do so while the primary is still being contested.                                           

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