McDonald’s CEO Says the Company Pays ‘Fair’ Wages

[xchrom]

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/05/23/3441057/mcdonalds-ceo-fair-wages/


McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson


“We continue to believe that we pay fair and competitive wages,” stated Don Thompson, McDonald’s CEO, in an annual meeting with shareholders at corporate headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois on Thursday.

While Thompson reported that shareholders received $4.9 billion in returns in 2013, over 2,000 low-wage McDonald’s workers protested outside for a $15 minimum wage and the right to unionize, resulting in over 100 arrests.

“We provide job opportunities and training for those entering the workforce,” Thompson added, bringing up McDonald’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Fenton as an example, who started as a crew member in 1973 and is planning to retire later this year.

The facts tell a different story. The average annual salary for fast-food workers is $18,880, putting a family of three below the poverty line. Glassdoor reports that McDonald’s cashiers and “team members” average hourly pay of around $7.75.

[leftyohiolib]

1. then that's what they should pay you

[B Calm]

2. My thoughts too!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. Who wrote this shit?

He said "FARE" wages, as in paying enough per hour for a bus fare.

Talk about the fall of journalism and careful editing.

[hobbit709]

4. Technically it could be correct. All you take home is bus fare.

[VanillaRhapsody]

23. After all they pay 1.5 Big Macs an hour!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

29. But that's before withholding.

I once heard a CEO brag to his workers why they were not sharing in record profits. He told them that if he raised their pay, they would pay higher taxes, so he was doing them a favor.

His company no longer exists.

[VanillaRhapsody]

30. so sadly true!

[Tuesday Afternoon]

5. I don't know how else to say it: McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson is a Liar. n/t

[hobbit709]

6. I would put another word in front of liar.

[Scootaloo]

7. Just one? Surely your vocabulary is large enough to tell us how you really feel

[hobbit709]

8. The F word would be sufficient and fully descriptive.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. I like adjectives, too but, I was trying to be as nice as possible and still tell the truth ...

[hobbit709]

11. Using the F word would be nice compared to what I would normally say.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

12. I said some choice words when typing above. I assure you but, when you have had as many hides I have

on here you learn to censor yourself

[hobbit709]

14. Uncle Sam couldn't shut me up and no one else is either.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. A DU jury has shut me up many times.

[hobbit709]

17. Only once for me. Someone in BOG didn't like what I said.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

18. it happens. My last hide on here was to a troll. I really think hides to trolls should drop off when

they PPR the troll. Also, I think their jury decisions need to be looked into but, that is just my opinion.

[Laelth]

9. Competitive, sure.

There are enough underemployed and unemployed people to drive wages down to $3.00/hr. if "competitive" is what we seek. Personally, I seek "living wages" for all Americans, not "competitive" wages.

k&r for labor.

-Laelth

[Recursion]

13. Corporate McDonalds pays pretty well, as fast food goes

And does do (again relatively) some good professional development stuff (their head of US operations started as a line cook, for instance). The bigger issue with McDonalds is that they'll franchise to any sociopath with $35K, and the franchise McDonalds (the majority) are some of the worst places to work in the country.

[struggle4progress]

15. It Takes A McDonald's Worker 4 Months To Earn What The CEO Gets In An Hour

The Huffington Post
By Jillian Berman
Posted: 12/10/2013 6:01 am EST
... The analysis, compiled by the financial information company NerdWallet, assumes the average salary of a McDonald's hourly worker is $7.73 ... Official figures on McDonald's worker pay aren't publicly available, but the median wage for fast-food workers overall is $8.90 per hour. By comparison, former McDonald's CEO James Skinner raked in $9,247 for an hour of his precious time last year ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/mcdonalds-hourly-pay_n_4414538.html

McDonald's shareholders approve chain's executive compensation
Thu May 22, 2014 10:24am EDT
McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly approved an advisory measure on executive pay at the fast-food chain, where Chief Executive Officer Don Thompson took home total compensation of $9.5 million in 2013 ...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/22/us-mcdonalds-compensation-idUSBREA4L0LB20140522

Don Thompson pulled in about $26 000 every day of the week and every week of the year in 2013. A worker making $9/hr would get $72 in every 8 hour day and thus would earn in about 17 months (of 40 hour weeks) what Don Thompson earned every single day

[oneofthe99]

19. Should McDonald workers make more than a person who went to college for 4 years?

My niece doesn't make $15.00 an hour as a teacher

[surrealAmerican]

20. Teaching should pay better than what your niece is getting.

Nobody should be payed less than a living wage - that includes people who had no academic talent.

[oneofthe99]

22. I'm not arguing with you

Everyone should be payed a living wage , I'm just putting it in perspective for people that work
at McDonalds that think they should be paid $15.00 an hour.

I know warehouse workers who unload trucks 10 hours a day out in the New England winters
that make don't make $15.00 an hour

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

27. They should.

And if fast food workers can get their pay raised to $15 an hour, that puts pressure on those warehouses to pay more as well. Otherwise people won't want to work for them, but seek out fast food jobs instead.

It's better for EVERY worker in every sector for any large group of low wage workers to get a raise.

[TheFrenchRazor]

36. what's your point? your niece should make more, or other people should make less? i've worked

"real" jobs and i've worked semi-fast food jobs (i have two university degrees - one in engineering, btw), and yes, highly skilled workers should be paid better than fast food workers, but these low level jobs are not exactly "unskilled" and they are hard work, and the bottom line is that if employers pay poverty wages, they should expect very, very little in return from their workers.

[Wounded Bear]

21. Shitty, fair, good, excellent...

Yeah, maybe "Fair" is a term close that's close to accurate.

[Boomerproud]

24. Will he have the courage to speak to the people who were arrested?

Hey, as long as the investors are happy right? I may never patronize a McDonald's again, and it's been awhile already.

[Shoulders of Giants]

25. Unfortunately, he's right about it being a "competitive" wage.

But not a fair wage. Paying workers far below what the minimum wage was 40 years ago (when adjusted for inflation), making them work unpaid illegal overtime, and expecting taxpayers to make up the difference through governmental assistance is the new normal.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

26. Have you seen the latest fast food commercial?

A guy goes into a store and wants to buy something that costs a buck, and instead of handing over a dollar, gets the store clerk to accept a hamburger off the dollar menu in trade.

Sounds to me like they'd rather pay their workers in product, not cash, since those $1 hamburgers obviously don't cost them $1. I kind of doubt that I could take some random dollar store item into McDonalds and trade it for a burger.

[ladjf]

28. I believe this man speaks with a "forked tongue". nt

[SevenSixtyTwo]

31. McDonald's CEO is black?

OMG! I thought sure he'd be some balding white privileged fattening hog. Well, my hat's off to him for his success despite all odds I read about here. Going back to see how he dresses, speaks and presents himself.

[tkmorris]

34. ?

Also... !

[xchrom]

37. indeed. a tad alarming. nt

[951-Riverside]

32. I did not know Grimace became CEO of McDonald's

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[aikoaiko]

39. And the jury results are in.....

AUTOMATED MESSAGE: Results of your Jury Service
Mail Message
On Sat May 24, 2014, 08:39 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

I did not know Grimace became CEO of McDonald's
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4994228

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

This feels very racist.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Sat May 24, 2014, 08:47 PM, and the Jury voted 0-7 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: The alerter needs to articulate a better reason than feelings.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I seriously doubt the poster had any racist intentions in this, and based the association on the similar expressions and, of course, the McDonald's tie in. I really don't see anything racist about it. Sensitivity run amok I think.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: No explanation given
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Juror #6 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I don't see this as really being racist, so I vote to let it stay.
Juror #7 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: I don't think it's racist.

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

33. Workers should take over McDonalds and make it a cooperative

Then all workers own the company not the investors

[TheFrenchRazor]

35. "fair" and "competitive" means about what other similar companies are paying; so if they were all

paying 25 cents/hour, most business owners/managers would be perfectly ok with that wage. in fact, that's exactly what their plan is: to collectively drive down wages throughout the entire industry. it's been working like a charm for at least the past couple decades.

[SevenSixtyTwo]

38. Unfortunately,

that's the truth of how businesses maximize profits. Imagine if you were a McDonalds franchise owner in your neighborhood hoping to bring in the average $128k a year in profits for your investment and efforts. You would likely want to pay your employees a decent wage as you seem like a good and fair guy. However, going from $7.25 an hour to $15 an hour for your hourly employees could cut your profits in half or more. Then toss in the occasional corporate mandated upgrades to the building and property among other things. For $60k a year or less you'd likely close up and take your business expertise to a more profitable position somewhere else. You could raise prices on your products but prices are already pushing the limits of what people will pay for fast food. It's not as simple as it seems. The best the employees could do is bargain collectively and realistically for the best wages they can get all things considered. But that could scare the franchise owner into closing shop at the mere thought of a union workforce. Fast food is not a really lucrative business at the local level.