Striking workers to demonstrate at Denver airport

In Detroit, more than three dozen demonstrators were put in handcuffs Tuesdaymorning during a protest near a fast food restaurant.

“Risking arrest today isn’t the easy path, but it’s the right one”.

No one was arrested, police said.

New York City police told CNN Money that 26 people were arrested on Tuesday alone for disorderly conduct. The demonstration in Cleveland was part of a national, union-organized day of action. Earlier in the day, dozens of Triangle residents spent Tuesday night marching instead of working, some only making the minimum wage. The campaign seeks higher hourly wages, including for workers at fast-food restaurants and airports. A report released Tuesday by the National Employment Law Project shows the Fight for $15 has won almost $62 billion in raises for working families since that first strike in 2012.

Hector Figueroa, president of 32BJ SEIU in NY, said Trump won the election by promising jobs for voters who were not able to see a way toward success for themselves or their children.

The fight to get minimum wage up to $15 per hour has been a long one. The industry-backed Employment Policies Institute, a vocal opponent of the Fight for $15, released a series of videos ahead of Tuesday’s protests blaming minimum wage hikes for closures of small businesses.

Protesters also gathered at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to demonstrate for higher wages for airport workers.

Jason Surbey, a spokesman for the US Department of Labor, told Al Jazeera that President Barack Obama’s administration has pushed for a higher federal minimum wage and encouraged states to raise workers’ salaries. “It’s time to walk together, go to jail together, fight for $15”, he said in a statement. Fast-food restaurant workers and home and child-care workers rallied in cities including Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and NY on Tuesday morning. They stood in front of a Kansas City McDonald’s chanting for an increase in the minimum wage to $15.

In urban areas from coast to coast, fed-up laborers blocked traffic, often leading to arrests; at last count at least 55 people were arrested in Chicago, 40 in Los Angeles, 34 in Cambridge, and 39 in Detroit.

‘We are working closely with our vendors to ensure there is no disruption to our operation, ‘ said American Airlines spokesperson Leslie Scott.

As might be expected, reactions surrounding the push for a minimum wage are strong and represent both sides of the issue.

CBS Los Angeles reports that organizers there, including the Service Employees International Union, said the demonstrations are a response to the recent election of politicians “who threaten an extremist agenda to move the country to the right”.

The movement scored a big win in April, when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to lift the minimum wage in New York state to $15 an hour.