Protesters in ‘Fight for $15’ strike across the country

Protesters in “Fight for $15,” the campaign to raise minimum wage for fast food workers to $15 an hour, launched its one-day worker strike today in 270 cities across the U.S.

The demonstration Tuesday has been the largest since its inception in 2012, which began with a walkout by restaurant workers in New York City.

Hundreds of union workers protested in major cities across the country from New York to Chicago to Washington, D.C. as well as several state capitols. Organizers say the day of protests will culminate with a protest outside the GOP presidential debate tonight in Milwaukee.

Tuesday’s strike also included other low-wage unions such as the United Auto Workers and Communication Workers of America in an effort to raise the voice of low-wage employees as a “voting bloc that can no longer be ignored,” the campaign said.

The campaign is backed by Service Employees International Union which represents about two million workers in the service sector. Mary Kay Henry, SEIU’s international president, stated that the campaign wants to “expand the movement and take it to the ballot box.”

Though critics state that the direction of the campaign is unclear without a sustainable model for labor activism, the growth of the movement has drawn political attention and prompted a response with its symbolic date exactly one year before the 2016 presidential election.

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders was one of the politicians who stood with the protesters in Washington, calling on Congress to “finish the job” by raising the minimum wage to $15. Fellow presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hasn’t necessarily been in support for the $15 wage, but she showed her support for the campaign in a tweet earlier today.

Responses from the GOP candidates to the campaign have been muddled, but is expected to take a more definite shape in tonight’s fourth GOP presidential debate.

In line with the movement, Tuesday morning, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced their plans to create a $15 minimum wage for all city and state workers, respectively.