McDonald’s investors have backed an executive pay plan at the company’s annual meeting despite protests.
Nearly 94% of shareholders voted in favor of the plan, which determines chief executive Don Thompson’s pay as well as a formula for paying top management.
McDonald’s investors have backed an executive pay plan at the company’s annual meeting despite protests
Last year, Don Thompson was paid a total of $9.5 million.
The vote came a day after more than 100 demonstrators seeking better pay for McDonald’s workers were arrested.
Addressing the protests, Don Thompson reportedly told investors at the meeting: “We respect the fact that they want to challenge us relative to wages.
“We pay fair and competitive wages and we provide opportunity, and we provide job opportunities and training for those entering the workforce.”
In addition to protests by workers and labor organizers, who are demanding the chain raise the minimum wage paid to workers to $15 from the US federal minimum of $7.25, McDonald’s has seen falling sales in the US.
McDonald’s has also been hit by the increasing cost of beef, and criticism from public health experts over its advertising.
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Thousands of McDonald’s employees marched on the company’s Oak Brook campus that houses its Hamburger University training facility, demanding higher wages for workers.
The site of the planned protest was changed after McDonald’s vacated its headquarters in Illinois after consulting with police.
Protesters want the fast food giant pay a minimum wage of $15 per hour, double the US federal minimum wage.
The company’s annual shareholder meeting is scheduled for Thursday.
Thousands of McDonald’s employees marched on the company’s Oak Brook campus that houses its Hamburger University training facility, demanding higher wages for workers (photo Reuters)
The closure affected one of five McDonald’s corporate buildings and about 3,000 employees.
Protesters – which included a few hundred McDonald’s workers – said they were seeking to highlight how low wages have exacerbated income inequality in the US.
The protest was planned before the annual shareholder meeting, where a vote is expected on executive pay.
Last year, chief executive Don Thompson was paid $9.5 million.
Shareholders in Mexican fast-food chain Chipotle recently rejected an executive pay plan for the firm’s co-chief executives, Steve Ells and Monty Moran, who earned $25.1 million and $24.4 million, respectively, last year.
Fast-food workers and labor organizers have been protesting since 2012 in an effort to boost wages and win worker rights, such as paid sick leave.
Last week, they organized a global walk out in more than 250 cities to highlight what they say are the difficulties facing low-paid restaurant employees.
President Barack Obama has pushed Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour from $7.25, however he has faced stiff opposition from Republicans.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, fast-food workers in the US earn about $8.83 per hour, or $18,400 per year if they are working a full 40-hour work week.
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