By Jake Johnson/Common Dreams
A recent New York Times editorial – accompanied by the catchy headline, “At McDonald’s, Fat Profits But Lean Wages” – noted precisely what its title implies: That a company posting large profits is still failing to pay its workers a livable wage.
This, of course, is nothing new: In fact, Fight for $15 began, as the movement’s website notes, “with just a few hundred fast food workers in New York City, striking for $15 an hour and union rights.”
The movement has since become a nationwide force, pressuring state governments, along with the federal government, to contend with wage inequality that, as the Economic Policy Institute reported earlier this year, has been steadily rising for over 35 years.
The Times begins its editorial by noting that [Chicago-based] McDonald’s “has reported a 35 percent increase in profits for the first quarter of 2016, an unexpectedly large gain driven in part by its recent decision to sell Egg McMuffins all day long.”
This is great news for “executives and shareholders,” the piece observes, but “when, if ever, will it be good news for McDonald’s employees and for taxpayers?”
We see it over and over again: ‘Taxpayers step in to provide the benefits and survival necessities that are not provided by employers, which then allows companies like McDonald’s to post higher profits and pay their executives lavish salaries.’ (Photo: Mike Mozart/flickr/cc)
Posted on August 2, 2016