Fast-food employees in 33 countries have set a global day of protest and strike action next week in a bid to gain better pay and conditions.
The workers got together for the first time under the aegis of an international trade union, the International Union of Food Workers.
They are to launch their protest 15 May with strikes in 150 US cities as well as sites in 33 nations, including Japan, Brazil, Morocco, Italy, India, Germany, Argentina and New Zealand.
"Workers from dozens of countries on six continents announced they were joining the growing movement for higher pay and rights on the job at restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and KFC," organisers said in a statement.
The action follows on from protests in New York at the end of 2012 and which quickly spread to some 100 other cities in the US.
In the United States, fast food employees are demanding a salary of $15 (£8.80) an hour, more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25 paid at many fast-food chains. They are also asking for the right to unionise without retaliation.
In the US, more than two-thirds of minimum-wage workers are women, and many single mothers struggle to take care of their families on the minimum wage, or too often less, according to the National Women’s Law Center.
In March, McDonald’s agreed to pay $500,000 to workers who filed a class-action suit against the company alleging wage theft. A nationwide survey found 90% of fast-food workers reported money was taken from their wages illegally. Similar cases are pending in Michigan and California.
