McDonald’s has failed to comply with a 2015 promise to raise workers’ wages, organizers say. The chain had announced that it would raise its workers’ hourly pay to at least one dollar above minimum wage. But while the minimum wage has risen in several states, workers say that their paychecks have not gone up accordingly.
The pay hike was controversial when it was announced, in part because it would apply only to workers employed at company-owned McDonald’s locations. Just 10 percent of McDonald’s restaurants are operated by the chain; the rest are franchises. Employees at those company-owned locations have said that the pay hike was a one-time occurrence and hasn’t kept pace with rising wages overall. The company says the wage hike was not intended to apply to a higher minimum wage.
McDonald’s is facing a tight labor market, as its competitors increase pay and benefits in response to employee organizing against poor working conditions. Just a few weeks ago, McDonald’s settled a lawsuit filed by two dozen workers that could have made the company liable to workplace violations by its franchisees and required it to negotiate with workers at franchise locations who chose to unionize. Because of the settlement, the case did not go to trial and the question of McDonald’s relationship to its franchise workers remains unresolved.