McDonald's to workers: "quit complaining"

[Scuba]

from my email ....

Don't they read this stuff before they post it on the web?

McDonald's knows they don't pay their employees like me enough to make ends meet. But instead of paying us enough to get by, their "help" consists of a website that's chock full of CLUELESS (and offensive!) tips. You have to see it to believe it.



The truth is, McDonald's made $5.5 billion in profits last year and they can afford to actually help – by paying us enough to make ends meet. It won't be easy, but to make that happen we need everyone to see – and be outraged by – just how out of touch they truly are. Watch the video to see for yourself, and spread the word on Facebook or Twitter after you have – or just forward this email.

We'll be in touch with what's next,

Maria Trisler
Low Pay is Not OK

[Vashta Nerada]

1. Yesterday Walmart was having a food drive so its employees can eat a decent Thanksgiving meal.

Today, McD's is telling its employees to quit complaining. Wow. Just...wow.

I hope all of Walmart's and McD's employees walk off the job and strike. Everyone deserves a living wage.

[NYC_SKP]

2. What would be better than higher pay would be for McDonalds to simply go away. McFuck McDonalds.

They offer nothing but crappy food, a high carbon footprint, rain forest destruction, and sadness.

We should all pledge to never go there and to beg others to do likewise.

McFuck them.

[Scuba]

3. But then where would I stop to pee?

[FarCenter]

4. +1

[NYC_SKP]

6. Get a Pith Helmet. My mom had one. Not sure what became of it.

[riqster]

25. Urine good company with that hat. nt

[daleanime]

8. They can't charge for that....

yet.

[Scuba]

9. I pay plenty for it ...

... starting with the healthcare costs for their employees.

[daleanime]

10. Hell, looking at it that way.....

we should be getting checks from them on a regular basis.

[mwooldri]

27. Plan ahead. Use a foley.

insert sarcasm type thingy here just in case...

Some people do use a foley catheter from time to time for really long trips but using it has its risks.

[Scuba]

31. Easier to just stop at McUrinals.

Hey, what did you think those golden arches were representing?

[Iggo]

33. Oh, that's beautiful.

[mwooldri]

37. ehehehehehehehehe :) :) :) :)

great one! u bust my gut

[Mr Dixon]

5. IMO

Agreed

[LuvNewcastle]

11. They do a lot of harm and produce nothing of value.

There's really no reason to patronize them. You know, most foods that are bad for you are tempting because they taste good, but McD's manages to make unhealthy food that also tastes like shit. It's about as appetizing as eating a bicycle.

[Vashta Nerada]

12. I don't even go there.

I don't even use their bathrooms. I go to the local gas station instead.

But you're absolutely right. The only way to get rid of McD's is for everyone to stop going there entirely.

[Jesus Malverde]

16. +1

McFuck them

[Liberal_Dog]

22. "McFuck McDonalds"

I like that.

[Laelth]

7. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[Initech]

13. Let them eat cake!!

[Divine Discontent]

39. or the greasy sandwiches and fries they are so FORTUNATE to get

maybe the big guy in charge at McD's can help out with his $12 or 14 million yearly salary and cheer up those underpaid workers who complain complain complain (also known as asking why they can't get a better salary/raise!)


http://www.zazzle.com/shutdown_the_gop_by_voting_in_2014_government-128195183613839642?rf=238107662556833486

[ReRe]

14. K&R

Everyone's got to see this. Another day in the life of Orwellville.

[christx30]

15. Did you know?

You can save money on haircuts by doing it at home! And blinking every once in a while can keep your eyes moisened, saving money on contact solution. A few simple steps like these can help make ends meet, since we won't pay you enough. Now stop complaining and get into that Grimace costume!

[hueymahl]

17. Blaming McDonalds for being a crappy employer,

restaurant and steward of the environment is kind of like blaming a shark for attacking. It is just what they do.

McDonalds is crap. Their food is crap. Their policies are crap.

Do yourself a favor and stay away. It truly is the only thing they will listen to.

[Scuba]

18. The public needs to be exposed to their policies. Just staying away won't accomplish that.

[hueymahl]

28. They don't call them McJobs for nothing!

The real bitching needs to be about raising the minimum wage. Don't get me wrong, I am not defending McDonalds, but the minimum wage law is the root of the problem.

But there I go complaining again. I must stop to control my stress!!!

[DinahMoeHum]

19. Arbeit Macht Fries. . .

[woo me with science]

20. ...

[riqster]

30. Ve are only filling orders, mein Herr!

[lumberjack_jeff]

35. ROFL!!!

[SheilaT]

21. I haven't been to a McDonalds in at least five or six years.

Nor to a WalMart in even longer.

I don't know how much difference my not patronizing either place actually affects those enormous corporations, but it's the least I can do. I also will not shop anywhere on Thanksgiving Day, and I'm going to be very dis-inclined to shop ever at the stores that are opening this year on Thanksgiving.

I myself will be working 9am to 8pm on Thanksgiving, but that's because I work at a hospital, and I accept working holidays and weekends as a choice I made when I took this job, which is working the information desk.

In a couple of years I'm going to retire and collect SS, but I'll probably want to work a little for a few years after that just to stay somewhat occupied, and of course extra money is always nice. I'd thought about working seasonally, in retail, but that's now off the table as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure I can get temp office jobs when the time comes.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

23. Creepy clown; arrogant, greedy company. n/t

[MoreGOPoop]

24. K & R

I'm gonna go with NYC SKP's "McFuck McDonalds".
That's perfect.

[OnionPatch]

26. This is why our economy sucks.

When working people aren't paid a living wage they can't contribute doodley squat to the economy. The rich need to loosen their white knuckle grip on their cash and start sharing the wealth a bit with their employees. But this won't happen voluntarily. The wonderful free hand of the market created this environment where workers are treated more like slaves than business associates. Did anyone really believe in trickle down?

[exboyfil]

29. McDonald's Ownership

Click on the column header links to resort ascending (^) or descending (v).
Owner Name Date Shared Held Change (Shares) Change(%) Value(in 1,000s)
VANGUARD GROUP INC 09/30/2013 56,753,844 1,064,143 1.91 5,542,013
STATE STREET CORP 09/30/2013 53,827,265 3,128,589 6.17 5,256,232
BARCLAYS GLOBAL INVESTORS UK HOLDINGS LTD 09/30/2013 26,601,231 (763,075) (2.79) 2,597,610
BANK OF AMERICA CORP /DE/ 09/30/2013 17,755,954 1,203,977 7.27 1,733,869
NORTHERN TRUST CORP 09/30/2013 17,040,515 (620,211) (3.51) 1,664,006
BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP 09/30/2013 15,874,923 533,495 3.48 1,550,186
DEUTSCHE BANK AG\ 09/30/2013 14,263,608 3,979,250 38.69 1,392,841
MASSACHUSETTS FINANCIAL SERVICES CO /MA/ 09/30/2013 13,876,573 735,239 5.60 1,355,047
FMR LLC 09/30/2013 13,303,870 (5,273,174) (28.39) 1,299,123
BLACKROCK FUND ADVISORS 09/30/2013 12,441,777 (304,383) (2.39) 1,214,940
JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 09/30/2013 11,252,979 313,596 2.87 1,098,853
WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT CO LLP 09/30/2013 10,608,373 1,508,662 16.58 1,035,908
BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION TRUST 09/30/2013 9,872,500 0 0.00 964,050
WELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MN 09/30/2013 8,734,500 (223,661) (2.5) 852,924
BLACKROCK GROUP LTD 09/30/2013 8,646,270 113,159 1.33 844,308

Read more: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/mcd/institutional-holdings#ixzz2l7fUx62u

[matt819]

32. I think the McDonald's approach is too soft

They should take a page from WWII.

This one's from a fictionalized version, The Bridge Over the River Kwai, in which Col. Saito wants his POWs to "be happy in your work." Of course, the not so subtle follow on to that is, ". . . or die."

Then there are the words that appeared at the gates to many (all?) German Concentration Camps: Arbeit Macht Friei. Work Makes You Free. Ummm. . . Yeah, right.

Because that's what it's really about these days.

[Brigid]

34. Is McDonald's seriously trying to provoke a prolonged strike?

Who is writing this stuff -- Anne Romney??

[Rex]

36. Just eat your fucking Happy Meal and STFU!

Get McHappy or get fired!

[Art_from_Ark]

50. If you're McHappy and you know it

crap your pants!

[Divine Discontent]

38. from the clown, to the wallyworld, to the mouse and other amusement parks, and on and on...

these giant corporations pay unlivable wages to many of their workers. thanks SOOOO much. the taxpayer is so happy to pay that missing income for you filthy rich stockholders and Top Brass "leaders" at those places!

really trying to stop spending money at these places as much as possible.



http://www.zazzle.com/shutdown_the_gop_by_voting_in_2014_government-128195183613839642?rf=238107662556833486

[passiveporcupine]

40. Has anyone here looked at the numbers?

of McD's employees and how much even a dollar an hour raise would affect their profits, if they don't raise prices to cover it? I would really like to see the real numbers on this, because a dollar an hour wage increase for 760000 workers in the US, adds up to almost 1.6 billion dollars. And they would need more than a dollar an hour wage increase to make a livable wage. McD's profits are probably controlled more by Wall Street than McD, since they are a publically traded company, so if profits start dropping, there might be a lot of people screaming and dropping stocks.

I have no problem with raising prices to cover the wage increases, but I'm wondering if they could survive a large profit loss and/or customer loss if they raised prices too high.

If anyone has those figures, I'd sure love to see a link.

I really don't think they can do this without losing out to competition and the markets, unless the competition is required to raise their wages too. But that means a federal minimum wage increase.

[Leith]

41. I Don't Have Any Sympathy

Here is a link to a report of a tripling in pay of their CEO.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/12/mcdonalds-former-new-ceo-big-pay-bumps/2078001/

Can you argue that this does not affect their profitability?

[Rocket_Scientist65]

42. No Leith, it does not

affect their profitability. It's barely a drop in the bucket compared to their overall sales figures. If you dumped the CEO pay and gave it all to the workers, it would increase their hourly wage by 0.8c/hr (yes, less than a penny). For corporations this large, CEO pay is NOT a significant expense.

[Fumesucker]

45. Did you know that McDonalds has locations in Australia?

Where the minimum wage is $16.88.

http://mcdonalds.com.au/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/19/the-u-s-has-a-7-25-minimum-wage-australias-is-16-88/

I'm sure McDonalds just runs those locations as a tax write off since they couldn't possibly be profitable.

[passiveporcupine]

47. Yep

And I bet they charge a lot more for a happy meal to pay those workers decent wages. And guess what? It's still all crap food we shouldn't be eating anyway.

[Egalitarian Thug]

49. CEO compensation is a reliable indicator of the overall expense for non-productive

executive level management, and that is indeed a significant factor. Executive compensation as a percentage of revenues has radically increased over the last 40 years. It is easy to hide the scale of looting in reports structured for public consumption, but when you look at raw numbers the truth comes out.

[passiveporcupine]

48. I don't have any sympathy for high CEO pay either

We need to level the playing field with pay. Sweden (I think) is talking about passing a law that fixes all pay so the highest paid employee in a company cannot make more than 12 times what the lowest paid worker makes.

I think we need to talk about something like that. Until we reign in unreasonable and escalating wage inequality, we will continue to see a growing divided between the haves and have nots, with more people falling into the have nots.

[Rocket_Scientist65]

43. That's just it passiveporcupine, there's

always a lot of outrage in threads like these, but nobody ever bothers to crunch the numbers. You see demands for $15/hr but just an increase of $3.47 an hour (assuming 760000 full time 40hr/week workers) would put McDonalds in the red with 0 profit....essentially impossible. In order to provide a "living wage" you'd essentially have to dump one third to one half the work force. Just two posts down someone assumed that the CEO pay somehow is a major factor in their profits...again simple math says it's not......CEO pay is just 0.28% of the profit.

[Fumesucker]

44. McDonalds has full time workers?

Who knew?

[passiveporcupine]

46. I'm not saying we should just let them continue to pay slave wages

I'm saying it needs to be more than one company that raises wages, and the only way to get this done correctly will be to change federal minimum wages and then let them raise prices (and yes...damn it...we will have to pay a bit more for our junk food). Hell, maybe if we paid more for junk food than healthy food our obesity rates might start dropping in this country. Wouldn't that be something?

The minimum wage has not gone up for too long. It needs to be adjusted yearly, like any other job, to account for cost of living increases.

We are becoming a third world country because people don't want to pay for anything...they all want cheap stuff, cheap junk food.

[djean111]

51. "so if profits start dropping, there might be a lot of people screaming and dropping stocks."

The business model in the United States is to squeeze workers continuously in order to please stockholders, with no regard for the eventually ruinous results.

I do not go to fast food places, not will I take any family members there. The outright blackmail I have seen of saying what about the poor workers doesn't work on me.

"We are becoming a third world country because people don't want to pay for anything...they all want cheap stuff, cheap junk food."
And all some people can afford, because of low wages - is cheap junk food.

[passiveporcupine]

56. I agree with everything you say here n/t

[Scuba]

52. Actually, there's a lot of data debunking the numbers you posted ....

Here's one hard-to-refute fact: McDonalds is increasing profits faster in countries with higher wages.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/08/06/2419271/can-mcdonalds-make-a-profit-while-paying-15-an-hour/

While the average McDonalds employee in the United States makes just above the $7.25 minimum wage, that story is different in other countries. As Jordan Weissmann reports at The Atlantic, the minimum wage for full-time adult workers in Australia is $14.50 and McDonalds employees just negotiated a 15 percent raise by 2016. Yet the company has about 900 locations in the country.
Meanwhile, its profit margins at company-owned restaurants are higher in Europe than in the U.S. despite many countries there having a higher minimum wage. France’s minimum is about $12 an hour, and yet there are more than 1,200 locations there.

Residents of other countries pay more for their Big Macs, in part at least to make up for those extra costs, but the increase in prices is not drastic. Australians paid an average of $4.62 in U.S. dollars for a Big Mac in July and it cost $4.66 in the eurozone, while Americans paid $4.56. That’s a difference of about 6 to 10 extra cents, which would mean raising Big Mac prices a little over 2 percent in the U.S. to come equal with those in Europe.

Higher prices are related to the fact that the company does spend more on the cost of labor in other countries. In the U.S., it spends about 25 percent of its expenses on workers at the locations it owns, and franchises usually assume labor costs will take up about 30 to 35 percent. Worldwide, those costs have been found to come to closer to 45 percent of expenses. But the company reported nearly $5.5 billion in net income overall last year, up from about $2.4 billion in 2007, with more revenues coming from Europe than the U.S.

If you're going to post on DU, it's best to provide a citation for your claims. Otherwise members will suspect you just pulled the numbers out of your ass.

[passiveporcupine]

55. Yes, you are correct about the citations.

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2013, 11:50 PM - Edit history (1)

I just did some google searches on number of McD's employees in the US and the same number came up on several different links, so I went with that (the 760,000 employees in the US) pretty easy to find, but I should have posted links. Now I just did a google search to see how many big macs are sold each year in the US, and I got the number 550 million a year from [quote=http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500395_162-3200598.html]CBSNEWS[/quote]

I also did a search on the cost of Big Macs in the US (I don't buy fast food, so I don't know)...and the numbers I see for our US prices vary widely, even as low as $3.99, but I called McD's and our price here is currently 4.59, so we will go with your number.

Multiply that times six cents and you get $33 million dollars. That is just one item on the menu. When you are dealing with huge numbers, small differences can add up fast. The big mac is probably not the item they make most of the profit off of...I suspect fries and sodas is where most of their profit comes from. Not to mention we don't know if we are comparing apples to apples, since we don't know the cost of business over there, overhead, purchasing costs, or even comparing our cost of living to theirs.

I'm just saying, looking at generic numbers non exact numbers, it looks to me like we would have a really hard time convincing one company to raise it's wages if we didn't do the same for it's competition...but then...why shouldn't we do it for the competition as well? Why just hit McD's with a wage hike? Why not Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell? It should be a federal wage increase that is mandatory for everyone, so not just one company is hurt by it.

Edited to add:
Here is a link from Huffpo for number of US employees...only they use 761K
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/mcdonalds-vacation_n_4303629.html

And a link to CBS news on the number of big macs sold per year:
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500395_162-3200598.html

[Scuba]

57. Thanks for the thoughtul reply. Please note that simply spreading wage increases ....

... across sales fails to take into account things like reduced staff turnover - a major cost for fast-food employers.

I agree that we need to raise wages for all fast-food workers, not just those at McD's.

[woo me with science]

53. kick

[Puglover]

54. We just got our 1st (ugh) McDonalds in Cuenca Ecuador.

It opened around 10 days ago or so and at this point it is a 45 min. wait to buy their swill. I am hoping it is simply a novelty.

McDonalds pulled out of Bolivia after getting a big F off from the folks there.
http://www.infowars.com/mcdonalds-closing-all-restaurants-in-bolivia-as-nation-rejects-fast-food/

I hope Ecuador follows suit.