Fast food workers stepped up protests for higher wages Thursday, and dozens were arrested in Kansas City.
Hundreds of fast food workers and supporters marched and chanted near 14th Street and Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Mo. They are trying to form a union, and asking for $15 an hour.
Unlike earlier protests here though, this one involved civil disobedience.
Forty-five year old Richard Iker says he’s worked for McDonalds 18 years and pulls down $11.05 an hour. He was one of 52 people arrested for blocking the on ramp to I-70 from Prospect.
“I went through the process - you know, my ID, my shoelaces, my belt. (They) Put me in a holding cell,” said Iker. “Then they called my name, took me in, handed me my ticket and let me out the door.”
Iker says the four hour hassle was worth it to help drive home his complaint about not being able to get the point across that it’s very tough to make ends meet on fast food wages.
“I’ve already been on strike twice before, so to me it was a logical step forward,” he says.
Iker says blocking traffic is likely to become a regular part of the fast food worker protests to come.
