McDonald’s Corp., which has pleased investors with three straight quarters of sales growth, is still facing workers calling for higher wages on the eve of its annual meeting.
Protesters are planning to escalate their annual demonstrations ahead of the meeting today, according to organizers that are funded by the Service Employees International Union. Hundreds of McDonald’s cooks and cashiers are expected to set up tents outside of the company’s U.S. headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill., and stay there overnight Wednesday. In all, as many as 10,000 fast-food, home-care and child care workers from across the U.S. will be protesting the meeting, the organizers say.
The demonstrations highlight the wage pressure facing the world’s largest restaurant chain. Advocates are lobbying for a minimum wage of $15 an hour, and they’ve already had success getting California and New York legislators to raise pay to that level in coming years.
“We take seriously our role in helping strengthen communities,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Lisa McComb said in response to the planned demonstrations. “Every year, we and our franchisees separately employ hundreds of thousands of people, providing many with their very first job.”
