The reason that the Company Wage Tracker‘s evidence that almost 9 out of 10 McDonald’s workers make less than $15 per hour is important is because it highlights why workers have fought so hard for a $15 minimum wage. In May, Vice reported how McDonald’s cashiers were readying themselves to strike for that standard. The argument being that this higher pay would help alleviate the labor shortage and provide a better living wage.
In April 2021, Newsweek carried the story of how even McDonald’s tried to calm the fears of other companies by saying that a $15 minimum wage would not destroy business. But yet, on April 22, 2022, McDonald’s won their case against Fight for $15, arguing that the corporate company is not responsible for how franchises pay or discipline employees. As Reuters reported, Fight for $15 tried to argue the case that McDonald’s was a joint employer, which would make them liable for how their franchises fired their workers in retaliation for protesting for a higher minimum wage. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rejected this. And because the company can remain separate from the direct employers of McDonald’s workers, the leverage to enact a cross the board pay rise is not as feasible.
That said, the company could encourage franchises to pay their workers more. For example, instead of using the tens of millions in PPP loans for paying HQ rent during the pandemic (per The Counter), they could have used that money to supplement worker paychecks.
