Free Republic

Backers of the movement for higher pay point to studies saying that the average age of fast-food workers is 29 and that more than one-fourth are parents raising children. Simon Rojas, who earns $8.07 an hour working at a McDonald’s in South Central Los Angeles, said he would join Thursday’s one-day strike. “It’s very difficult to live off $8.07 an hour,” said Mr. Rojas, 23, noting that he is often assigned just 20 or 25 hours of work a week. “I have to live with my parents. I would like to be able to afford a car and an apartment.”...

A McDonald's outlet in Australia has begun playing classical musical and opera late at night to deter young people from loitering around the restaurant. Fed up with their outlet's nocturnal transformation into an unofficial youth club, the store adopted the tactic a few weeks ago and says it has significantly reduced the number of loiterers, particularly around the car park. The strategy has reportedly been tried before by a local council at a car park in Australia, though previous efforts involved blaring songs by Barry Manilow. Matthew Watson, the operations manager at the Mt Annan McDonald's on the outskirts of...

McDonald’s wants to be a bigger player in the global coffee business. The world’s biggest hamburger chain on Thursday highlighted beverages as one of its key growth opportunities at a day-long presentation for investors. … The push comes as Starbucks Corp. is enjoying strong sales growth even in the choppy economy. In the latest quarter, the Seattle-based chain said global sales rose 7 percent at locations open at least a year. At McDonald’s, the figure edged up 0.9 percent. …

Thanks to the dubiously identified "buddy" of Redditor DJDanaK, the world now knows what "raw McRib meat" looks like, stripped of its plush bun, special sauce, and sliced onion. Since many manufacturers produce boneless, mechanically separated "rib" products, the exact provenance of this particular mystery-meat specimen is the subject of ongoing debate deep within the Reddit trenches at this very moment.

NEW YORK, - A defamation lawsuit in New York alleges a court-appointed psychiatrist told a judge a man who refused to take his son to McDonald's was an unfit parent. David Schorr, 43, a Manhattan attorney, filed a lawsuit in city Supreme Court alleging court-appointed psychiatrist Marilyn Schiller filed a report in his custody battle saying he was "wholly incapable of taking care of his son" and should be denied weekend visitation rights for refusing to take his 4-year-old son to the fast-food restaurant, the New York Post reported Friday. Schorr said the incident in question involved his son throwing...

<p>Attorney David Schorr slapped a court-appointed shrink with a defamation lawsuit for telling the judge deciding a custody battle with his estranged wife that he was an unfit parent — for refusing to take his son to the fast food joint for dinner.</p>

A woman from Clovis, Calif. is suing McDonald’s for negligence after hot coffee she bought at the fast food restaurant spilled on her lap and burned her. The attorney for 74-year-old Joan Fino says settlement talks between his client and McDonald’s ended Thursday without an agreement. … Fino says coffee spilled on her lap at the drive-up window and gave her second degree burns in her groin area. …

McDonald’s has lost its taste for Heinz ketchup. The fast-food giant said in a statement Friday that it is cutting ties with the condiment company after 40 years due to management changes there. A former Burger King CEO became head of Heinz in June after the company was bought by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital. 3G, a Brazilian investment firm, also controls Burger King. The impact of the change may be tasted more overseas. In the U.S., McDonald’s uses Heinz products only in Pittsburgh and Minneapolis restaurants. …

Food companies understand that Americans are increasingly interested in buying food that actually seems worth eating. We want food that's some degree of fresh, healthy, natural or otherwise of higher quality. It's for this reason that you see images of plump fruit decorating packages of cereal bars and the greenest broccoli you've ever laid eyes upon appearing on boxes of frozen dinners. At Burger King, you don't order a mere salad - it's a Chicken Caesar Garden Fresh Salad. Those chips aren't just cheese-flavored - they're Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips, with "harvest cheddar" an entirely meaningless term. Few companies have...

DERRY, NH (CBS) – Officer Rob Moore pulls up to the McDonald’s drive-through in Derry, New Hampshire a couple times a week for some fast food, ordering a double quarter pounder with cheese. It’s usually the only place open working the night shift. Raw McDonald's hamburger served to NH police officer. (Photo from Rob Moore) Raw McDonald’s hamburger served to NH police officer. (Photo from Rob Moore) “I was the only one at the restaurant. I drove through and I was in full uniform,” said Moore. He grabbed his order and pretty hungry he dug in and quickly took four...

<p>A single mother who has been working at McDonald's for 10 years was detained by police last week after she interrupted the company president's speech in Chicago to confront him about low worker pay.</p> <p>Crain's Chicago Business reports that 26-year-old Nancy Salgado was part of a group protesting the event, asking company officials to raise worker wages to $15 an hour and allow employees to form a union without fear of retaliation.</p>

Last week, the Tea Party Immigration Coalition announced a boycott of several national restaurant chains, including McDonald's after they, along with more than 100 companies signed a letter asking the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a so-called 'comprehensive immigration reform' bill this year. Thus granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, as well as increasing the number of foreign workers coming to this country legally. Such a measure would undoubtedly displace more American workers, at a time when only 47 percent of Americans have a full time job. On Thursday, the TPIC sent a message to McDonald's explaining the...

McDonald's will offer side salads and fruit as an option in its value meals in its bigger markets, and will also begin pushing healthier drinks for its Happy Meals. The moves are part of a number of health-centric global initiatives the chain announced today with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a non-profit founded by the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association to reduce childhood obesity.

Up until this week, Starbucks had been neutral when it came to its gun policy, which meant that the coffee giant respected local laws regarding firearms. This policy was widely respected among gun-rights advocates—a Starbucks Appreciation Day has even been organized at stores throughout the country for the past few years—but it also drew the ire of anti-gun groups and lawmakers who have been pressuring Starbucks to change its ways. Although the coffee chain didn’t reverse its policy toward guns, on Wednesday the CEO issued a statement essentially saying firearms are unwelcome (but not banned). Even though this wasn't...

On Wednesday, the Tea Party Immigration Coalition (TPIC) announced a boycott of several national restaurant chains which recently came out in support of amnesty for illegal aliens.Last week, executives from more than 100 companies signed onto a letter addressed to Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, urging them to pass so-called 'comprehensive immigration reform' this year, which would not only grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens, but would also greatly increase the number of legal immigrants admitted annually...a measure which would further displace American workers. The letter states: “We, the undersigned chief human...

The analogy comparing arguing with a liberal to playing chess with a pigeon is the brilliant product of the keen mind of Matthew Bracken, a Navy Seal. Bracken’s gem says: “Arguing with a liberal is like playing chess with a pigeon. No matter how well you play chess, the pigeon just knocks over all the pieces, craps on the board, spews some unintelligible profanities, and struts around like he won.” Clearly he has captured to essence of the futility of presenting logical arguments to people who are ruled by pure emotion. “I feel” or “The way I see it” are...

HOBOKEN – A drunk Glaswegian seaman displayed his naked buttocks to customers and staff at the McDonald's at Washington and Third streets Monday night and then put up a fight with the cops who arrested him, police say.

Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog Shaniqua Davis, it’s not McDonald’s fault that you chose to become an unmarried, teenage mother Recently, McDonald’s employees have been going on strike to try to get paid $15 an hour. Associated Press reports:Shaniqua Davis, 20, lives in the Bronx with her boyfriend, who is unemployed, and their 1-year-old daughter. Davis has worked at a McDonald’s a few blocks from her apartment for the past three months, earning $7.25 an hour. Her schedule varies, but she never gets close to 40 hours a week. “Forty? Never. They refuse to let you get to that (many) hours.”Her...

"You're trying to go up and you're just going down," said protester Shantel Walker, 31, of Brooklyn who makes $7.25 working at a Papa John's in Manhattan. "All of us are in the same financial crunch. We're trying to take care of our families and our livelihood." The strikes mark the latest salvo in a nearly year-long battle to get not only higher wages but also an opportunity to unionize without facing retaliation from employers. . . . U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez told The Associated Press the strikes were a sign of the need to raise the minimum wage....

(MoneyWatch) Employees of fast food restaurants are striking in cities around the country, bolstered by support from labor unions, churches, and other groups, demanding $15 an hour wages and a greater ability to unionize. Many consumers have complained that the expectations are unreasonable, given the type of work and the skills and drive they assume must be lacking in the workers.