About 100 demonstrators seeking better pay for McDonald's workers were arrested on Wednesday as protesters swarmed the fast-food chain's corporate campus near Chicago demanding a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to unionize, according to the Associated Press.
The protest against McDonald's came a day before a shareholder vote on executive pay, the AP reported. Organizers said 2,000 people turned out for the rally.
Rallies by low-wage restaurant and retail workers have helped fuel a national debate on pay inequality at a time when many middle- to low-income Americans are struggling to make ends meet, according to the AP.
A recent report from New York think tank Demos found that the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio for the fast food industry was more than 1,000-to-1 in 2013m the AP reported.
McDonald's, which is grappling with sagging U.S. sales and higher beef prices, does not disclose average pay for restaurant workers, most of whom work for franchisees, the AP reported.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 3.5 million fast-food and counter workers in the United States earn a median hourly wage of $8.83, according to the AP.
President Barack Obama has pushed Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour from $7.25. Washington, D.C. and 21 states have minimum wages higher than the federal minimum, the AP reported.
McDonald's spokeswoman Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem said the company and its franchisees were monitoring the minimum wage debate, according to the AP.
"$15 is unrealistic, but we know that the minimum wage will increase over time," Shekhem, the AP reported.
"It's time for the McDonald's Corporation ... to stop pretending that it can't boost pay for the people who make and serve their food," said Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, and one of those arrested at the protest in Oak Brook, Illinois, according to the AP.
