After an Ankeny Burger King worker was fired following a strike for higher wages, more than 20 protesters stormed the store Thursday demanding his re-hiring.

"We're not going to stop, until Burger King backs down," said Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. "We're going to keep coming back and keep coming back."

Jake Laun, 25, of Des Moines was a manager at the Burger King on Southeast Delaware Avenue in Ankeny.

He was fired shortly after striking during a metro-wide "Fight for $15" movement over Labor Day weekend. He also spoke to The Des Moines Register and shared stories about his working conditions during the Sept. 3 protest.

Arriving in a school bus, protesters from Iowa CCI Action Fund, along with gubernatorial candidate Cathy Glasson, swarmed the inside and outside of the Burger King.

Inside, protesters read a letter asking that Laun be hired back and chanted "put workers first" and "$15 and a union."

A manager in the store called Ankeny police and reported the protesters for trespassing. She said Laun would never be hired back to the store and that corporate was watching through security cameras.

"Guess what, you'll be back, but he's not coming back," the manager responded.

The manager declined to speak with the Register.

Protesters then marched outside and chanted in the parking lot and passed out flyers to people in the drive-thru, until Ankeny police arrived. Two officers asked the protesters to move to the sidewalk or they could be arrested following receiving trespassing notices on Sept. 22.

The group continued their protest alongside Delaware Avenue.

"We came here because Burger King Ankeny ignored workers' rights," Espey said. "We came up here because Burger King retaliated against the worker for exercising his legally protected right to strike for better working conditions and wages."

Espey said a complaint has been filed with the National Labor Relations Board over Laun's firing.

According to the board's website, employee's have the right to strike under the National Labor Relations Act. People who strike for higher wages are known as economic strikers, and they cannot be fired from their job, unless they are replaced by a permanent employee.

The board determines the lawfulness of a strike and firing, according to the National Labor Relations Board website.

EYM King, based out of Texas, owns Burger King stores in Iowa, Michigan, Kansas and Missouri.

In 2017, EYM King of Missouri, LLC, violated the National Labor Relations Act after a former Burger King worker was fired for striking with Fight for $15. A judge ruled EYM King broke the law because the employee was allowed to engaged in "concerted activities," designed to improve working conditions, according to Bloomberg.

A call to EYM King was not returned.

Following Laun's firing, Espey said Fight for $15 groups plan to protest EYM King locations outside of Iowa as well.

"It's going to be a multi-pronged multi-strategy attempt to let Burger King know that when they ignore workers' rights we stand and fight back," Espey said.

Laun, who was employed by Burger King for eight years, said he struggled to afford housing and had to move to Des Moines after facing difficulties paying $700 for a one-bedroom apartment in Ankeny. He said he also struggled keeping up with basic bills.

Most full-time employees at the Ankeny Burger King location made $9 an hour, according to workers at the store.

"I’ve been behind on electricity bills and trying to catch up on rent and keeping in contact with my landlord so we wouldn’t get evicted," Laun said over Labor Day weekend. "You never know when life’s going to hit you with car troubles, medical bills, costs — you don’t know."