For a long time, McDonald's has been synonymous with minimum-wage work. That doesn't mean that every worker at every McDonald's makes minimum wage, but a lot of them do, particularly starting employees.
McDonald's corporate office apparently wants to get away from that image. Yesterday,
it announced it's going to give workers starting pay that's $1 an hour more than the local minimum wage; in a post on its website, the company also says it "will review the wages we provide those employees on an ongoing basis." The company will also giving part- and full-time workers paid time off after one year on the job.
But there's a catch: these changes only apply to corporate-owned McDonald's restaurants. The folks at Metro Justice, which is coordinating the local Fight for $15 campaign to raise fast-food workers wages, say no McDonald's workers in Monroe County will get raises because of this decision. The organization says that the corporate decision will affect only a limited number of McDonald's workers, presumably because many of the restaurants are franchises.
The local Fight for $15 campaign is
holding a rally today in response to McDonald's announcement, which it characterizes as a PR move. The rally starts at 11:30 a.m. at McDonald's, 1422 Mt. Hope Avenue.