Fast-food employees in the U.S. and across the globe are walking off the job on Thursday to protest low industry wages and demontrate in support of a $15-an-hour minimum pay rate.

The campaign comes as President Barack Obama works to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from its current $7.25, which translates to about $15,000 a year for full-time employees.

The protests have captured media attention at a time when the issue of income inequality has come to the forefront. Plans for the demonstrations included 150 cities across the U.S., along with 33 additional countries, from Japan and South Korea to Panama and Italy. Actual turnout, however, varied widely by location.