'Fight For $15' Movement Takes On McDonald's At Shareholder Meeting

OAK BROOK, IL — Throngs of fast food cooks, cleaners, cashiers and other employees will take to the streets of Oak Brook Wednesday to demand a $15 minimum wage and labor rights. The protest takes place outside the fast food giant’s annual shareholder’s meeting, just a day after thousands held a similar protest in Chicago,

The group Fight For $15 calls McDonald’s the “Donald Trump of Corporations” and rails against the corporation’s alleged record of “sexual harassment, stealing from or refusing to pay employees, and ripping off taxpayers.” The website adds, in no uncertain terms, “We need $15 an hour and union rights – and we need it now. And we won’t let McDonald’s, or Donald Trump, stand in our way.”

The Fight for $15 movement has continued to gain momentum since it started. Workers have held demonstrations in more than 300 cities throughout the United States and 60-plus countries worldwide. Protesters have shared personal stories of McDonald's workers who are homeless or struggling financially, despite being employed.

Watch: United Workers Arrested During $15 Minimum Wage Protest

Over the past few years, McDonald’s has struggled with sharp declines in profit and market value. The corporation has recently pushed hard to revive its image with new uniforms, new menu items and McDelivery, a delivery partnership with UberEats. The employees who handle the day-to-day business at the company earn a wage of roughly $10 an hour, Reuters reported in 2016.

Many workers think the money used to reshape McDonald’s image with marketing gimmicks like the infamous “frork” would be better spent on treating employees fairly.

They say, “It’s time to pay people enough to survive.”

>>Related: Morning Rush Hour Road Closures for Minimum Wage Protest in Oak Brook

Aerial photo of today's March on McDonald's. The #fightfor15 showed up in FORCE. But we couldn't have done without our allies as partners. pic.twitter.com/nrsVt4ZHOp
— Fight For 15 (@fightfor15) May 24, 2017

Amazing march, but we're not done yet. Tomorrow morning we head to McDonald's shareholder meeting #Fightfor15 pic.twitter.com/Xanqs7zriU
— Fight For 15 (@fightfor15) May 23, 2017

A spokesperson from McDonald's provided the following statement,

"Our commitment to the communities we serve includes providing opportunities for those who work in our restaurants to succeed at McDonald’s and beyond. For hundreds of thousands, a job at McDonald’s is their very first and our world-class training and education programs begin building the skills first time workers will need to succeed in the workforce. In recent years, we have raised pay and started offering paid time off at our company-owned restaurants. Additionally, eligible employees (at both company-owned and participating franchised restaurants) can take free high school completion classes, get upfront college tuition assistance and learn English as a second language. In just two years, we are proud that over 17,000 employees have participated in this extended learning. Together, these important investments in our people show why we are committed to being America’s best first job."

>>Image credit: By Fibonacci Blue from Minnesota, USA [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons