Thousands of fast food and retail workers in the U.S. staged a national strike on Thursday calling for an increase to the minimum wage. President Obama pledged to push for higher salaries in the industry back in February, but critics say little has been done since. RT's Marina Portnaya was at the protest in New York. READ MORE br RT LIVE br Subscribe to RT! br Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Google+ br RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 1 billion YouTube views benchmark.