Bruce Horovitz

USA TODAY

The fast-food industry suffered some image indigestion Thursday when more than 430 workers demonstrating for higher wages in dozens of cities were arrested, organizers estimate.

Those arrested included Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., in West Milwaukee.

She joined fast-food workers from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles who put down their burger flippers and picked up picket signs in a strike for $15-an-hour minimum wages. The rallies included acts of civil disobedience — mostly blocking streets.

"There has to be civil disobedience because workers don't see any other way to get $15 an hour and a union," says Kendall Fells, organizing director of Fast Food Forward, a group backed financially by the Service Employees International Union, which organized the Thursday protests. "There's a long history of this, from the civil rights movement to the farm workers movement."

A number of fast-food workers make close to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, or roughly $15,000 annually. Some say that is not a living wage, especially for workers who are supporting families.

In a statement, McDonald's said, "We believe that any minimum wage increase should be implemented over time so that the impact on owners and small- and medium-sized businesses — like the ones who own and operate the majority of our restaurants — is manageable."

Strikers began to gather early Thursday in more than 100 cities at outlets for major fast-food chains from McDonald's to Wendy's to Burger King. Shortly after 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, police arrested 19 workers who sat down in the street outside a McDonald's at New York's Times Square, the New York City Police Department said. As many as several dozen striking workers were arrested in Detroit, as well.

In West Milwaukee, Moore, 62, a five-term congresswoman, was arrested after she joined a street sit-in and refused to leave when police told demonstrators to move, says Eric Harris, her press secretary. West Milwaukee police say at least 25 others were arrested.

"I take great pride in supporting Milwaukee workers as they risk arrest in pursuit of a brighter tomorrow for their families," Moore said in a statement.

The protest demands are for major fast-food companies to pay a $15-an-hour minimum wage and for workers to be able to unionize without retaliation.

Burger King cashier Terrence Wise, 35, who was arrested in Kansas City, Mo., says he's demonstrating for future workers and for his three daughters, ages 12, 10 and 8.

"Tomorrow, I've got to move out of my house because I can't afford to pay rent," says Wise, who has worked at Burger King for 10 years and earns $9.50 an hour. "It's not 4 million CEOs, but 4 million fast-food workers who keep these companies running."

In New York, more than 400 demonstrators gathered outside the Times Square McDonald's, and 14 men and five women were arrested and accused of sitting in the street and blocking traffic, police say.

The National Council of Chain Restaurants, an industry trade group, took issue with the protest tactics. "While it is common for labor unions to stage events in order to grab media attention, encouraging activities that put both restaurant workers and their customers in danger of physical harm is not only irresponsible, it's disturbing," said executive director Rob Green in a statement. "Unions are calling it 'civil disobedience' when in reality, this choreographed activity is trespassing, and it's illegal."