Employees chant ‘We work, we sweat, put $15 in our cheque’ in biggest protest by low-wage workers as board faces angry shareholders inside closed meetings

McDonald’s new chief executive said he was “proud” of the wages the fast food giant pays its employees on Thursday as thousands of McDonald’s workers and union activists descended on the company’s headquarters near Chicago to hold the biggest ever protest against “poverty wages”.

About 3,000 McDonald’s employees from across the US chanted: “We work, we sweat, put $15 in our cheque” as they marched towards the burger giant’s headquarters holding banners reading “McDonald’s: $15 and Union Rights, Not Food Stamps.”

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As the meeting began, protesters delivered a petition signed by 1.4m people calling on the company to support a $15 minimum wage and to respect workers’ rights to unionize.

“We’re here to tell McDonald’s and its shareholders to invest in the company and its workers instead of wealthy hedge fund managers and executives,” said Kwanza Brooks, a McDonald’s worker and mother of three from Charlotte, North Carolina, who is paid $7.25 an hour. “We’re tired of relying on food stamps to feed our own families. We need $15 and the right to form a union and we need it now.”



Protesting workers were allowed through a police barricade to deliver the petition but complained that they were prevented by security guards from taking it to the actual McDonald’s meeting. A McDonald’s spokeswoman said: “The protesters gave the petition to McDonald’s representatives who respectfully accepted it.”

Terrence Wise, 35, travelled 12 hours by bus from Kansas City with his three young daughters. “Was it worth it to stand here? Yes, definitely. I want my voice to be heard. I’ve worked at McDonald’s and Burger King for 11 years earning $8 an hour. I have three little girls to care for. I work two jobs, my partner works too, yet we still struggle to survive. We rely on food stamps. I don’t want to live on food stamps, I want to get paid what I deserve and work hard for. McDonald’s can clearly afford to pay us a living wage. They need to, now.”

RupertNeate (@RupertNeate) Meet Terrence, 35, who travelled 12hrs fm Kansas City w/ his three daughters. "I don't want to live on food stamps." pic.twitter.com/ge3lGg7urs

McDonald’s dismissed the demonstrations as a publicity campaign by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is working to organize workers across the fast-food industry. “The union has spent its members’ dues money in the past two years attacking the McDonald’s brand...in an unsuccessful attempt to unionize workers,” the company said in a statement.

Earlier this year, McDonald’s announced it would raise pay for workers at company-owned restaurants to $1 above the local minimum wage. Company-owned stores account for only about 10% of McDonald’s.



In the meeting, Steve Easterbrook, the newly appointed chief executive officer, said he was “incredibly proud” of the move and said the company was not responsible for the wage decisions of its franchisees. “We voluntarily took leadership,” he said.

Following a series of sales declines there were clear signs that investors want management changes. Shareholders forced through a vote to make it easier for them to nominate new directors. The company had opposed the vote, backed by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) and the New York City Pension.

That vote came after a Guardian analysis of McDonald’s board showed how insular the company has become. The average tenure of McDonald’s governance committee, which is responsible for appointing new directors, is 17 years. Ten of McDonald’s 13 non-executive directors are from the Chicago business community.

Keandra Guilmant, 25, from Minnesota, said: “I can’t raise my little boy on the $8 an hour I make. We are a two-person earning family, yet we still have to rely on government assistance.



“It’s not fair that they [McDonald’s executives] are walking around there [the company’s headquarters] in Armani shoes, when I can’t afford any shoes. I want Versace heels.”

Many of the protesters arrived on Wednesday for the rally outside McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, a suburb about 20 miles west of Chicago. On stage, Adriana Alvarez, one of 101 McDonald’s workers arrested for protesting at the meeting last year, said: “We’re here to make it clear to McDonald’s that we want $15 and union rights. We don’t need food stamps, and we definitely don’t want buybacks [in which the company buys its own shares to benefit shareholders].”



Alvarez, who has worked at McDonald’s for five years, said she is paid so little that she needs food stamps and Medicaid to care for her three-year-old son, Manny.



The company, which has taken the highly unusual step of banning the media from the meeting, on Wednesday closed many of its corporate offices and its on-site restaurant and removed “Golden Arches” flags from its properties.



Mary Kay Henry, president of the SEIU, said: “It’s time for McDonald’s to respect the workers on the frontlines as much as they have respected shareholders by putting $30bn in their pockets over the last 10 years.”



As well as pressure on the streets outside, McDonald’s faced some tough questions from its shareholders, angry at the company’s failure to keep up with the changing tastes of consumers.

Easterbrook was quizzed about the role of Ronald McDonald and the company’s marketing to children. “What sort of modern, progressive company sends a clown to schools,” asked shareholder and blogger Leah Segedie.

Easterbrook defended the company mascot. “Ronald is here to stay,” he said. He said Ronald McDonald was feeling “trendier and even more confident” after a recent makeover.

















