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Low-Wage Worker Protests Swarm US Cities

© AP Photo / David GoldmanJoshua Collins, center, chants during a protest outside a Burger King restaurant by fast-food workers and activists calling for the federal minimum wage to be raised to $15, Wednesday, April 15, 2015, in College Park, Ga. Organizers say they chose April 15, tax day, to demonstrate because they want the public to know that many low-wage workers must rely on public assistance to make ends meet.
Joshua Collins, center, chants during a protest outside a Burger King restaurant by fast-food workers and activists calling for the federal minimum wage to be raised to $15, Wednesday, April 15, 2015, in College Park, Ga. Organizers say they chose April 15, tax day, to demonstrate because they want the public to know that many low-wage workers must rely on public assistance to make ends meet. - Sputnik International
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In what organizers are calling the largest ever mobilization of US workers seeking higher pay, benefits and the right to unionize, America’s low-wage employees walked out of work on Wednesday holding demonstrations in over 200 cities across the country.

Fast food workers from America’s largest cities, including Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis and Kansas City, are out to demand a $15 an hour wage, calling their movement "Fight for 15."

Walmart employees, home care assistants and childcare workers are also hitting the streets, to join the fight for a higher minimum wage.

In Washington DC, protesters have blocked traffic to get to the National Restaurant Association, while university adjunct faculty takes to the streets to demand a "pathway to the middle class."

In New York City, workers, students, construction workers and activists occupied an intersection and stopped early-morning traffic at the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, stopping commuters from getting to work in Manhattan.

Across the globe, workers in Europe as well as New Zealand, have gone on strikes in solidarity with Americans.

The crowd has gotten so large that politicians couldn’t ignore it.

The International Labor Movement, coordinating with 35 countries, has chosen April 15, the day US tax filings are due, to draw attention to the low-wage workers who are dependent on government handouts.

According to a new National Employment Law Project report, 42% of US workers earn less than $15 an hour. The report also cites that occupations like retail salespeople, food preparation, service workers, freight and stock workers, janitors, nursing assistants and home care workers, whose hourly wage is less than $15, are expected to add the most jobs in the coming years.

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