LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police have arrested demonstrators who blocked a downtown street near a McDonald’s restaurant to protest low wages for fast-food workers.
Police handcuffed 10 people on Thursday. A protest organizer, Alberto Retana, says eight of those detained are McDonald’s employees.
The protest was one of a nationwide series calling on McDonald’s, Burger King and similar companies to pay workers at least $15 an hour.
McDonald’s says the rallies didn’t affect service.
Labor organizers have been campaigning for the higher wage for two years. Many fast-food workers currently earn close to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour — about $15,000 a year for full-time work.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has proposed raising the minimum wage in the city from $9 per hour to $13.25 by 2017.
