'Fight for $15' U.S. minimum wage movement picking up momentum

NEW YORK (AP) — The Fight for $15 campaign to win higher pay and a union for fast-food workers is expanding to represent a variety of low-wage workers and become more of a social justice movement.

In New York City on Wednesday, more than 100 chanting protesters gathered outside a McDonald's around noon, prompting the store to lock its doors to prevent the crowd from streaming in.

Demonstrators laid on the sidewalk outside to stage a "die-in," which became popular during the "Black Lives Matter" protests after recent police shootings of black men. Several wore sweatshirts that said "I Can't Breathe," a nod to the last words of a black man in New York City who died after he was put in a police chokehold.

Timothy Roach, a 21-year-old Wendy's worker from Milwaukee, said the police brutality black men face is linked to the lack of economic opportunity they're given. He said the protests were necessary to send a message to companies.

"If they don't see that it matters to us, then it won't matter to them," Roach said.

Organizers said demonstrations were planned for more than 230 U.S. cities and college campuses, as well as dozens of cities overseas. Among those who joined the latest day of protests were airport workers, Walmart workers and adjunct professors.