U.S. fast-food workers mark Tax Day demanding higher wages

(Reuters) - Fast-food workers rallied in U.S. cities on Wednesday to demand higher pay, using the April 15 deadline for filing tax returns to publicize their claim that they cannot survive on the hourly wages paid by many U.S. corporations.

The protests demanding pay increases to $15 an hour kicked off at dawn outside a McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) restaurant in New York with several hundred demonstrators.

Marching behind a banner reading "Raise wages, Raise the city," protesters carried placards with "Fight for $15 on 4/15."

In Chicago, hundreds of protesters rallied at the University of Illinois, their ranks swelled by healthcare and college workers.

"I have no benefits, I have no stability from semester to semester in any way being able to calculate out if and where I'll have a job," said Alyson Warren, 34, an adjunct writing professor at both Columbia College Chicago and Loyola University Chicago. She said Loyola pays $4,000 to $4,500 per 15-week course, and her group seeks $15,000 per course.

Roughly two dozen people were arrested for civil disobedience after blocking a street near Seattle University in protest, including some students, according to labor group Working Washington.

Plans called for rallies to be held in 230 cities across the United States.