Metro

Striking McDonald’s employees arrested in Times Square

Frustrated fry cooks and fed-up burger flippers blocked Times Square traffic Thursday as part of a nationwide protest demanding higher wages at fast-food restaurants.

Carrying signs that said “Stick together” and “Whatever it takes,” 19 disgruntled McDonald’s workers were arrested outside the fast-food giant’s location at West 42nd Street near Seventh Avenue after they sat down in the street shortly before 8 a.m. — in the middle of rush hour.

Hours later, McDonald’s workers protested under the Golden Arches at Eighth Avenue and West 56th Street. Several of them, too, were arrested.

Fast-food workers in cities across the country demonstrated to call attention to their fight for $15 minimum wages and the right to form a union without retaliation.

The protest was the first to take place since fast-food employees held their national convention in July in a Chicago suburb.

The average pay for a food-prep and service worker is $8.74 an hour, or about $18,000 a year.

That’s roughly $5,000 lower than the Census Bureau’s poverty threshold level of $23,000 for a family of four.

“I’ve worked there full time for four months,” said Marlon Rodriguez, 19, who works at a McDonald’s at West 51st Street and Broadway.

“My mom has been working there full-time for years. We pull $200 each a week working 40 hours. Rent is $800 . . . I just graduated high school. I couldn’t afford to go to college. I want to, but I have to help my mom.”