NEW YORK CITY – Protestors rallied in front of McDonald’s restaurants in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and New York demanding not an increase to the minimum wage, but to rectify alleged wage violations, the Associated Press reports.

The groups claim workers have been denied overtime pay, among other wage abuses. Union organizers have spurred the rallies to gain public approval of a $15 per hour minimum wage. The Service Employees International Union provides organization and finances for the protests, which started in 2012.

Organizers had rallies planned in around 30 cities, but preliminary numbers showed a steep drop off from last year. Only around 50 turned out for the New York City protest, and the same number showed up in Los Angeles, with Boston boasting a slightly less turnout.

What wasn’t apparent was how many of them were actual employed by a fast-food company, rather than union organizers, supporters or part of a PR firm hired to get media coverage. The National Restaurant Association pointed out this week’s demonstrations were “orchestrated union PR events where the vast majority of participants are activists and paid demonstrators.”

The protests comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed recently in three states for employees claiming McDonald’s deducted wages from their paychecks for uniforms. The suits also said the workers sometimes had to wait before clocking in at work.

Meanwhile, in Chicago, voters supported a referendum that would bump the city’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. The City Council will now consider the action, which only applies to companies generating more than $50 million annually.

A recent Congressional Budget Office report found that raising the minimum wage would slash half a million jobs. The National Retail Federation issued a call earlier this month to not increase the minimum wage because of continued job losses.