From New York to Chicago, fast food workers walk out and strike nationwide

NEW YORK, May 15 (UPI) -- Across the country, fast food workers are taking their fight for fair wages to the street. Workers and supporters are gathering outside of fast food chains, walking out on shifts and abandoning managers to run the locations alone.

Strikes are taking place in dozens of cities in the United States and over 230 cities worldwide.

"The reason I'm going on strike is I don't make enough money to take care of my kids," 40-year-old McDonald's employee Eddie Foreman told the New York Times. "We need to go on strike and protest -- that's the only way we'll get them to improve things."

A time zone away in Chicago, a similar scene is taking place.

"[The] people that prepare the food are the heart and soul of the services," said Delores Leonard. "It's absurd for [minimum wage]. It's just not enough, and if they were in our shoes, they would understand."

A crowd of strikers and supporters gathered outside of the city's iconic Rock and Roll McDonald's chanting, "What do we want? $15 When do we want it? Now!" and "McDonald's we are here." Wage theft, being forced to work off the clock and not allowed breaks during long shifts, is rampant in Chicago, according to fast food workers, who claim that up to 92 of the workforce is subjected to the practice.

A striker in New York said, "These corporations are taking everything from us."