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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio vows to boycott McDonald's until it hikes minimum wage to $15
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NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio vows to boycott McDonald's until it hikes minimum wage to $15

'We did in New York and it worked'

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed that he and his staff would boycott McDonald's until the fast-food chain raises its minimum hourly wage to $15.

De Blasio made the promise on Thursday while attending a planned labor strike in Iowa during a presidential campaign visit, Politico reported. His small campaign team of six also pledged to forgo meals at the Golden Arches.

"I'm not going to McDonald's anymore until McDonald's addresses these issues. No one from my campaign is going to McDonald's anymore until McDonald's respects working people," de Blasio said at the rally. "McDonald's is going to get the message because you're here and workers all over the country are calling them out. … This gives new meaning to the phrase 'Big Mac Attack.'"

When Politico reporter Sally Goldenberg tweeted the mayor and asked how often he eats at McDonald's, his campaign treasurer Jon Paul Lupo responded.

"I can't speak for him…but I definitely go too much. That stops today! #FightFor15," Lupo tweeted.

Last week, de Blasio launched his presidential campaign, joining a huge field of nearly two dozen Democratic contenders.

What happened at the protest?

The NYC mayor led about 100 workers on a march around a McDonald's in Des Moines during its lunch rush, according to the Des Moines Register.

"Honored to stand with @McDonalds workers in Des Moines today in their #FightFor15. Working people deserve to be paid fair wages for their labor, period," de Blasio tweeted.

The strikers wore red shirts emblazoned with the words, "Unions For All."

"We work! We sweat! Want $15 on our checks" and "Hold the pickles, hold the fries. Make my wages super-sized," they chanted while standing outside the Merle Hay Road McDonald's.

"There's no question (McDonald's) can pay the $15 an hour minimum wage; there's no question they can support a union," de Blasio told McDonald's employees, the Register reported. "So, to me, this is where you start this fight. If they can beat McDonald's, they can beat anyone."

The mayor claimed that New York City's recent minimum wage hike to $15 has proven successful.

"I came here to tell people it can be done, because it has been done. We did in New York and it worked," de Blasio said. "This is one of the most important places where this fight is being fought. The eyes of the nation are on Iowa right now."

On Jan. 1, NYC companies with 11 or more employees were forced to increase their minimum hourly wage to $15.

What else?

The protest was reportedly one of about a dozen that took place across the nation. Democratic presidential candidates Julián Castro, Jay Inslee, and Bernie Sanders also attended protests in other cities.

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