Sumer Spika had never been arrested before. But on Tuesday, as part of a slew of nationwide protests for higher pay, the homecare worker and mother of four sat and blocked traffic with fellow activists near a McDonald’s in Minneapolis and was subsequently cuffed.

“This was my first act of civil disobedience, and it was very peaceful,” Spika, 37, told Yahoo Beauty by phone not long after going through the booking system. “But our state is in a care crisis, and we have been shouting from the rooftops for a really long time about it and we’ve not been heard. So I felt like I had no other choice. I had to do something, and I did.”

Spika’s actions were part of a Day of Disruption in 340 cities on Tuesday — organized by the Fight for $15, a movement that began as a fringe effort to raise the minimum wage for fast-food workers in New York City and has now become a national phenomenon. It’s caught on with airport workers, childcare providers, Uber drivers, retail employees, and home-care laborers, with strikers demanding $15 an hour and union rights, and Tuesday brought the most disruptive protests yet, at 20 major airports and outside of hundreds of McDonald’s across the country.

“We can’t feed our families, pay our bills or even keep a roof over our heads on minimum wage pay,” the Fight for $15 website explains. “When we first took the streets, the skeptics called us dreamers — said a $15 wage was ‘unwinnable.’ We didn’t listen. We won $15 an hour across New York State and California … in Seattle. … And we won’t stop fighting until we turn every McJob into a REAL job. That’s the #FightFor15.”

Dayla Mikell joins a protest in Tampa, Florida. (Photo: Courtesy of Fight for $15) More

Spika was among many arrested for civil disobedience in the name of a living wage — along with two of her very supportive clients. She spoke with Yahoo Beauty about what motivated her to protest her pay, earned through an average of 70 hours a week spent at two to three jobs in which she helps care for people with disabilities at home, through services that include bathing, dressing, toilet assistance, and accompanying clients on outings.

She gets paid $12.93 an hour, without overtime, and her husband cannot work because he has multiple sclerosis and must rely on his own homecare worker (which is fortunately paid for by the state). But even with the mass of hours Spika puts in, she does not make a living wage.

“Even with the 70 hours a week, we still rely on government assistance for our healthcare and other things at different times — like food stamps,” says Spika, whose children are 2, 4, 9, and 12 years old. “On our first union contract, we bargained for paid time off, but instead of using it to go on vacation, I wind up cashing it out at the end of the year and using it towards bills. We’re never able to actually use it for what it’s meant for — a day for myself, or a sick day. It’s not something I have the luxury of doing.”

Her family’s expenses include a mortgage and car payments, and “just to keep food on the table is difficult,” she says. A recent $1,200 car repair bill wiped out their savings, garnered from a third job Spika held over the summer. “It’s continually a juggling act of what needs to be paid and what doesn’t,” she says. “But even bigger than my struggle is the struggle of the elderly and those with disabilities who need the care and cannot get it, because nobody wants to do this job — a hard job for so little pay.”

The highest toll on her, Spika says, may be emotional. “I’m not able to be home with my kids like I want to be,” she laments. “I’m constantly caring for other people, so I’m certainly last on my list of caring for, so sometimes that can be hard.” Still, she stays with her career because of the satisfaction she’s gotten from it since the day she started eight years ago.

Sumer Spika, left, blocking traffic in Minneapolis. (Photo: Courtesy of the Fight for $15) More