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DETROIT (AP) — Some workers at about 50 fast food restaurants in and around Detroit walked off their jobs as part of an effort to push for higher wages.

The one-day protest starting about 6 a.m. Friday at a McDonald’s on Detroit’s eastside before being duplicated at other eateries.

The Detroit area strike follows Thursday’s walkout by workers at more than 30 fast food restaurants in St. Louis. Similar strikes also have been staged at fast food chains in New York and Chicago.

Workers want $15 an hour, better working conditions and the right to unionize, said Detroit pastor Charles Williams II, an organizer with Detroit’s D15 campaign.

Many fast food workers in Michigan make $7.40 an hour or just above it, Williams said.

That’s the amount Claudette Wilson told The Detroit News she earns while taking part in the walkout at a Burger King near Detroit’s northern city limits.

“(It’s) the same as when I started working in the fast food industry three years ago,” said Wilson, 20. “We’re the fastest-growing job market in the country with the lowest pay.”

Shavontae Jackson said she has trouble making ends meet. The 22-year-old Southfield resident works at a McDonald’s.