david chuter is filling in on real money. vid, over to you. >> well, tony, fast food workers and other restaurant chains in the united states, they had this coordinated one day strike. but they were joined by organizers from the service employee international union. they also want the minimum wage to be raised? this country to $15 an hour. as you heard currently at $7.25 an hour, but some have higher minimums. president obama is calling on congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. this translated into less than $19,000 a year for full time work. so for a worker who is frying to support his or her family, that falls below the poverty line for a household of three. big businesses including multinationals like mcdonalds, they say they cut into profits and force them to let workers go. and they say that workers are paid by franchise owners, and not the companies themselves. >> so david, today's protests were coordinated organized in some 150 cities all around the world, so how does the united states stack up to other c

aljazeera.com, real money is next, david chuter is in for ali velshi tonight. >>> fast-food workers take a stand in the battle for better pay. we'll show you who is behind the worldwide protests and whether their demands can be met. and shareholders at a big restaurant chain has voted down a big pay package for the bosses. plus the energy boom is causing an explosive risk under the streets in our american cities. i'm david shuster, and this is "real money." ♪ >> this is "real money," and you are the most important part of the show, to tell us what is on your mine by tweeting at, and facebook.com. this was a day of protests in cities across america and around the world. hundreds of fast-food workers demanding higher pay walked off of their jobs. it was part of a cou court -- coordinated one day strike. here in the united states labor organizers from the service employ international union join the protest to call for raising the minimum wage in this country to $15 an hour. right now the federal minimum wage is stuck at 7:25 an hour. president obama is calling on congress to raise the feder

. >> terrific, david chuter in for ali velshi tonight, on real money. 7:00 p.m. eastern on al jazeera america, and coming up, thailand's former foreign minister joins us. with his take on the coupe in his home country, now that the army has taken control of the government, we will find out what he thinks will happen next, and hear from the california woman, who finally escaped captivity after ten years. real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. officially declared ahas coupe. but secretary of state john kerry says the decision could negatively impact u.s. thai relations. the military imposed martial law two days ago. thailand military has frequently stepped in to influence politics. joining me now, just with us a couple of days ago. he is thailand's former minister, and now a professor of law, and diplomacy at ucla. good to sew you, sir. >> good to see you back again. they didn't turn ask actual military coupe. >> i was expressing