Presidential candidate and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg Pete ButtigiegBipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death Bogeymen of the far left deserve a place in any Biden administration Overnight Defense: Woodward book causes new firestorm | Book says Trump lashed out at generals, told Woodward about secret weapons system | US withdrawing thousands of troops from Iraq MORE plans to join striking McDonald’s workers in Charleston, S.C., on Monday, the day before the state's Democratic primary debate.

The workers of the fast food giant are demanding a $15-an-hour wage and the right to unionize.

"McDonald’s workers are living with low wages, harassment, and even violent assaults — and they deserve better," Buttigieg said in a statement on Friday. "It’s critical that we support workers who are coming together to fight for a union, fair wages and benefits, and an end to harassment and discrimination.”

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South Carolina, which will hold the South's first primary vote on Feb. 29, is seen as one of the first real tests of how the candidates fare with black voters. It comes one week after Saturday's Nevada caucuses, which has a nearly 30 percent Latino population.

Buttigieg has not polled well with black or Latino voters, who make up much of union membership, and he hasn’t received as much support from unions as candidates such as Sen. Bernie Sanders Bernie SandersKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 Biden's fiscal program: What is the likely market impact? McConnell accuses Democrats of sowing division by 'downplaying progress' on election security MORE (I-Vt.).

According to Buttigieg’s website, he supports a $15 minimum wage and aims “to double unionization, restore workers’ rights that have been eroded by decades of anti-worker policies, enshrine the right to multi-employer bargaining, and expand protections for gig economy, farm, and domestic workers.”

Buttigieg sought to capitalize on an opportunity to court unions earlier this month when the influential Culinary Workers Union in Nevada criticized Sanders over his "Medicare for All" proposal, which they argue could take away their union-negotiated private insurance.

During the Democratic presidential debate in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Buttigieg touted his “Medicare for all who want it” plan, saying “we can actually deliver health care without taking it away from anyone.”