The happymeal is apparently not making everyone happy. More than 100 demonstrators were arrested on Wednesday as they protested the fast-food chain’s corporate campus near Chicago. They were demanding that the minimum wage be raised to $15 an hour and that they have the right to unionize.
The protest came the day before the shareholder vote on executive pay was set to take place. Chief Executive Don Thompson earned a total compensation of $9.5 million in 2013, and this flies in the face of the struggles that many middle to low income Americans are experiencing.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median hourly wage for the approximately 3.5 million fast-food and counter workers is $8.83. US President Barack Obama has been pushing for Congress to raise the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.
McDonald’s spokeswoman Heidi Barker Sa Shekhm said, “$15 is unrealistic, but we know that the minimum wage will increase over time.”
Time will tell how the controversy gets settled.