26 arrested in NYC in minimum wage protests

NEW YORK (AA) – As many as 26 people were arrested here Tuesday after protests for a raise in the federal minimum wage and union rights shut down Broadway.

The bulk of the detentions were made at Liberty St. near Zuccotti Park -- the epicenter of the Occupy Wall Street protests five years ago -- and all detainees were charged with disorderly conduct.

Similar protests cropped up early Tuesday in other cities across the country, including Chicago, Illinois, and Boston, Massachusetts.

A strike at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, with hundreds of workers participating, was pre-announced last week.

The group behind the protests is Fight for $15, a forum for civil disobedience activists against low pay. "We’re striking, we’re protesting, we’re saying it loud and clear: We. Won’t. Back. Down." the group's Facebook page, with more than 300,000 likes, said Tuesday.