OVER 1,300 US fast-food workers voted at the weekend to escalate efforts to attain $15 (£8.84) hourly pay and union recognition through nonviolent civil disobedience.

Their discussions centred on the future of a campaign that has spread to dozens of cities in less than two years.

Wearing T-shirts proclaiming “Fight for $15” and “We Are Worth More,” the workers cheered loudly and said they would win if they stuck together.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) has been providing financial and organisational support to the fast-food protests that began in late 2012 in New York City.

Action has included one-day strikes and a loud but peaceful demonstration outside this year’s McDonald’s shareholder meeting, where over 130 protesters were arrested after stepping onto company property.

The weekend’s convention included sessions on civil disobedience and leadership training.

SEIU official and campaign organising director Kendall Fells said that what actions happened next would be up to workers in each city.

President Barack Obama and other Democrats are making a campaign issue out of their call to increase the federal and state minimum wages.

The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (£4.27), translating to about $15,000 (£8,835) a year for someone working 40 hours a week, though many fast-food workers get far fewer hours.

President Obama is calling for it to be increased to $10.10 (£5.95).

Fast-food workers say that even that would not be enough because most people working in the industry now are adults with children, rather than teenagers earning pocket money.