Fast Food Workers Protest For Higher Wages in Boston

Dozens of Boston fast food workers walked off their jobs Thursday, demanding higher wages and protesting in high visibility areas around the city.

Mass Uniting was the organizing force behind the protests, asking the corporations who employ many locals to nearly double their wages to $15 an hour.

Local and state politicians joined the workers at an afternoon rally on Boston Common, which was followed by demonstrations outside the McDonald's and Burger King locations on nearby Tremont Street.

"We need to make sure that every person, that every family, has the ability to live with dignity," said U.S. Sen. Edward Markey.

Organizers said Boston was one of 50 cities in the country to stage protests for fast food workers Friday.

Five Boston mayoral candidates spoke at the rally, including Marty Walsh, John Barros, Charles Clemons, Bill Walczak and Felix Arroyo.

Arroyo noted his work organizing for union janitors in Boston who once made $8 an hour. Today, they make $16 an hour.

"I know that we can win," he said. "I stand with you as workers, and I stand with you to say we should never in a country as prosperous as this one that someone is working poor."