Democrats in Congress urge fast-food outlets to boost worker wages
Democratic members of Congress are urging McDonald’s Corp. and other fast-food chains to raise wages for store workers.
“Too many hard-working families are being forced to depend on poverty-level wages,” 53 members of Congress wrote in a letter mailed Wednesday to restaurant executives including McDonald’s Chief Executive Don Thompson. “Paying fair wages and putting more spending money in the hands of consumers will strengthen our economy.”
The letter is also being sent to CEOs at Burger King Worldwide Inc., Wendy’s Co., Yum Brands Inc. and Domino’s Pizza Inc.
Fast-food workers Thursday plan to strike for $15-an-hour pay in more than 100 cities across the U.S. Although the protests for higher wages, which started in New York City last year, have spread across the country, they’ve done little to change an industry that employs millions of low-wage workers.
The strikes and letter coincide with President Obama’s support for a bill pending in Congress that would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 an hour and index it to inflation. Some states have higher minimum wages than the federal level.
U.S. food-preparation and serving workers, including those in fast food, earn $9 an hour, or $18,720 a year, on average, according to May 2012 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
McDonald’s, the world’s largest restaurant company, has “always been an above minimum-wage employer,” Thompson said in an interview in July. “We’re going to continue to provide entry-level jobs.”
