Little Rock (KATV) — Little Rock low-wage workers have been fighting for a change in the workplace for years. On Friday, group, Fight for 15 Little Rock, decided to take that fight all the way to the Capitol.

The group of low-wage working women spoke out on various issues, including equal rights and gender equality in the workplace,

“We feel like women don’t have equal rights in the workplace,” said Ramona Dokes. ‘We have no sick days but we don’t get paid for it. We have maternity leave and no pay, and we work the whole time we are pregnant. We work the whole nine months we are pregnant. How come we can’t get paid the six weeks we are off?”

Women from Little Rock, Memphis, and even St. Louis, who currently work in the fast food and service industry were in attendance, each carrying their own emotional testimony, like Sonic carhop, Ashley Cathey.

Cathey says she stands with Fight for 15 Little Rock and is fighting for union rights.

“If I have a union they can’t fire me, they can’t cut my hours,” said Cathey.

Dokes works at Tropical Smoothie and is a mother of six. She tells Channel 7 she has a total of 12 years experience in the fast food industry and has never made more than $9 an hour.

“Raise minimum wage to $15. We work too hard to get paid what we are being paid,” said Dokes.

According to the Arkansas Department of Workforce Services, a 2014 census shows that on average, men make over $15,000 more than women each year.

Minimum wage in Arkansas is currently $8 an hour. Come 2017, the minimum wage is set to increase to $8.50 an hour.

New York became one of the first states to pass a new law that would raise the minimum wage in New York City to $15 per hour by the end of 2018. Washington D.C. followed suit, enacting a law to raise their minimum wage to $15 per hour by July of 2020.