Hundreds of fast-food restaurant workers in New York City are expected to walk off the job Thursday in what organizers said would be their largest rally yet for better pay.

Employees from familiar chains such as McDonald’s Corp., Wendy’s and Yum Inc.’s KFC are seeking to roughly double their hourly pay to $15. They also want the right to form a union without intimidation or retaliation.

Winning such concessions will be difficult. Low-wage, low-skill workers lack political clout and face significantly higher unemployment than college graduates.

As many as 400 workers from more than five dozen restaurants around New York City have committed to turn out for protests planned at various locations, said Jonathan Westin, director of Fast Food Forward, which organized Thursday’s actions and is backed by labor, community and religious groups.

That turnout would be twice as large as in November, when the city’s fast-food workers also walked off the job, Westin said.

And, he said, the majority of employees from some individual fast-food outlets have vowed to participate in Thursday’s actions.

“It’s going to be difficult for these businesses to operate this time,” Westin said.

The nearly $200 billion U.S. fast-food industry has long been known as a employer of teenagers and students. But the 18-month “Great Recession” that began in December 2007 helped change that. It destroyed thousands of middle-income jobs and forced more adults to seek part-time, largely minimum-wage work flipping burgers and manning fryers.

In his State of the Union address in February, President Barack Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage as a way to help lift some workers out of poverty — a plan critics said would kill jobs by burdening small businesses with higher costs.

The state of New York is already on that path. Its recently passed budget included plans to raise the state minimum wage, now at $7.25, to $9 by the end of 2015.

But even with that 24 percent hike, New York’s minimum wage would remain below the roughly $11 hourly pay needed to lift a family of four above the poverty line.

Such pay-boosting efforts are welcome but not enough for workers struggling to make ends meet, said fast-food employee Joseph Barrera, who plans to join Thursday’s protests.

The 22-year-old says he has earned $7.25 per hour for the 10 months he has worked at a KFC restaurant in Brooklyn. Even with a side job as a freelance mechanic, he still stretches to cover rent on his basement apartment that has no windows or heat.

“Anywhere where the cost of living is very, very high, $9 is not enough. Everyone should be able to make a living wage,” Barrera said.

McDonald’s Corp., the world’s biggest fast-food chain by sales, in November said that the majority of its namesake U.S. restaurants are owned and operated by independent businessmen and women who offer pay and benefits competitive within the quick service restaurant industry.

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Cops are looking for two suspects accused of snatching handbags at least three times in Queens.

According to the NYPD, two female suspects have been entering businesses and swiping purses and wallets from female shoppers. Then, they use the credit cards immediately after during shopping binges at stores like Victoria’s Secret.

The first incident was Jan. 20 around 2:45 p.m., cops said. A victim’s wallet was stolen from her bag inside a beauty salon on Steinway Street, and her card was then used at Victoria’s Secret, Party City and Michael’s.

Then, on Feb. 26 around 6:45 p.m., another wallet was swiped from a shopping cart and was used to buy items at Victoria’s Secret and Sports Lane.

The third incident was Feb. 28 at 6 p.m., when a person’s handbag was swiped from an unattended shopping cart and used at McDonald’s and an electronics store.

Anyone with information should call 800-577-TIPS.

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Burger King suspended its Twitter account after hackers breached the fast-food chain’s social media account.

The account was shut down an hour after the company learned of the attack at about 12:25 p.m. EST, according to Reuters.

“It has come to our attention that the Twitter account for the Burger King brand has been hacked,” the company said in a statement. “We have worked directly with administrators to suspend the account until we are able to re-establish our legitimate site and authentic postings.”

The first fake tweet said: We just got sold to McDonalds! Look for McDonalds in a hood near you.”

The logo on the Twitter handle was change to that of Burger King’s rival, McDonald’s – but spelled McDonald’s wrong.

One tweet said, “Just got sold to McDonalds. FREEDOM IS FAILURE.”

Burger King does not yet know who is responsible for the hack attack.

Follow Mary Ann Georgantopoulos on Twitter @marygeorgant

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The world’s No. 1 hamburger chain said on Wednesday it is going to start listing calorie information on menus in some 14,000 U.S. restaurants and drive-throughs – ahead of a national rule that will require larger restaurant chains to make such disclosures.

McDonald’s Corp (MCD.N) is a trend setter for restaurants and its move in this arena – while prompted by regulations and pressure from public health activists – is likely to force other restaurant operators to follow quickly.

The state of California and cities like New York already require that calories be clearly listed on menus. Under the new U.S. healthcare law, restaurants across the country must soon put calorie counts and other nutrition details on menus.

The national rules target restaurants with 20 or more locations, as well as other retail food outlets. Most major chains have resisted posting such information, without legislation and the threat of fines.

The date for national compliance has been delayed and is not expected to be set until after the U.S. presidential election.

McDonald’s was slow to warm to calorie labeling.

When labeling proposals were gaining steam several years ago, McDonald’s representatives publicly opposed them. A common complaint was that rules from one jurisdiction to another were inconsistent. Some officials also said calorie disclosures would violate customer privacy.

Cindy Goody, senior director of nutrition for McDonald’s USA, described the company’s latest move as a way to help its customers understand their food choices.

The company, which is in nearly every U.S. community and serves 25 million U.S. customers daily, is casting the nutrition disclosures as a business opportunity.

“It’s a new reason to visit more often,” Goody said.

Calorie and other nutrition information already is available on the company’s website. Listing calories on menu boards allows customers to use that information when they are making a decision about what to eat.

Margo Wootan, the director of nutrition policy for the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, thinks the national calorie labeling deadline will probably be around the end of 2013 – so customers at McDonald’s will be getting the information about a year earlier than what will be required.

Disclosure rules already have helped convince many restaurants, including Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O), to cut calories from their food and to highlight healthy options, she said.

Those moves matter because Americans get about one-third of their calories from eating out, Wootan said.

Amid demands from parents and health activists, McDonald’s also has taken steps to make menu items healthier.

It tweaked its popular Happy Meals for children – reducing the french fries portion by more than half and adding apples to every order.

This past summer, it rolled out a “Favorites Under 400″ menu that highlights products in that calorie range.

McDonald’s also plans to add more fresh fruits and vegetables to its menu and has set a goal of decreasing calories, saturated fat and added sugars across its U.S. menu by 2020.

Corporate Accountability International has been pressing McDonald’s to make bolder changes to its menus and to stop advertising to children.

“To truly address its health impact … the burger giant (needs) to make more fundamental, far-reaching changes,” said Juliana Shulman, senior organizer for the group’s Value the Meal campaign.

More than two years ago, Panera Bread Co (PNRA.O) became the first national restaurant chain to voluntarily post calories at company-owned stores. Sandwich chain Subway has used calorie disclosures to position itself as a healthier alternative to rivals like McDonald’s and Burger King Worldwide Inc (BKW.N).

McDonald’s shares were down $0.30 at $90.90 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Now, 17 years after the infamous lawsuit that settled with McDonald’s paying $160,000 to a woman who was scalded with hot coffee, the burger giant is facing two more lawsuits for java burns.  The suits were filed on the same day last week in the Chicago area, according to Chicago Business.   

In one of the suits, a 4-year-old girl is the alleged victim. Lynn Abdelal was handed a cup of hot coffee to bring to her grandmother. The coffee spilled on her, causing second degree burns. The child was rushed to the hospital where her family was told she would have “permanent scarring.” The family is seeking $4 million from McDonald’s, claiming the child should never have been given the coffee in the first place.

The second suit was filed by 35-year-old Melissa Pettigrew who claims she suffered “horrific” burns on her thighs after spilling a cup of hot coffee from a drive-thru.

The style of McDonald’s coffee cups have come under fire by critics who claim it is prone to spills. The company has announced it is looking into different designs, but not for safety reasons. Instead, McDonald’s is seeking more Eco-friendly styles of cups.

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The change is part of the chain’s push to increase its edge over competition. McDonald’s will also introduce an Extra Value Menu later in the month, featuring 20-piece chicken McNuggets, double cheeseburgers, chicken snack wraps, Angus snack wraps, medium iced coffees and snack-sized McFlurries and regional items. All Extra Value Menu items will be priced above $1 and most will be less than $2.

“The choices have been available for quite some time, we’re just making it easier for customers to find them and enjoy them,” said Neil Golden, chief marketing officer for McDonald’s USA.

Will you miss your small fries and sodas?

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The McBaguette will feature Charolais beef, topped with French Emmental cheese and mustard, and served on a baguette-style bun, of course.

The McBaguette is replacing three other limited edition burgers promoting local cheese in the 1,228 McDonald’s restaurants through out France.

“It doesn’t quite look like a baguette; a baguette isn’t square. But I
would give it a try,” a Parisian said to the WSJ when shown a picture of the
McBaguette while leaving a bakery.

But France isn’t the only country where McDonald’s is trying to attract more diners with a discernable palate. There are 14 other European countries experimenting with new menu items, including Finland and Italy with new desserts and burgers.

This French twist to American cuisine starts April 18 and will run for six weeks.

What’s next — McSnails?

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Oliver, known as the Naked Chef, has long been a proponent of a food overhaul in American culture. On his show, “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revoltion,” he demonstrates the unappetizing process of converting leftover meat trimmings into a beef filler using ammonium hydroxide.

Oliver said the trimmings would typically only be fit for dog or chicken food, but the process transforms it into a “pink slime” fed to humans in McDonald’s beef patties.

The chef declared victory after McDonald’s pulled their “pink slime,” produced by Beef Products Inc (BPI), from its burgers.

“Why would any sensible human being want to put ammonia-filled meat into their children’s mouths?” Oliver said.
 
However, the company denies that Jamie Oliver’s food crusade had anything to do with the move.

“The decision to remove BPI products from the McDonald’s system was not related to any particular event but rather to support our effort to align our global beef raw material standards,” Todd Bacon, Senior Director of U.S. Quality Systems and Supply Chain for McDonald’s, said to the Daily Mail.

Whatever the reason, it’s probably a good thing the millions of Americans who eat McDonald’s will no longer be ingesting a “filler” product that looks more like slime. How’s that for #McDStories?

Want to see how it’s made? Maybe wait till after lunch time….

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McDonald’s launched the initiative last week by introducing the hashtag #McDStories on Twitter. It wasn’t long before the campaign took on a life of its own as Twitter users recalled horror stories about unsavory meals or took the opportunity to sling criticism at the fast food chain.

McDonald’s quickly realized the campaign had backfired and pulled the paid-for hashtag, but the tweets didn’t let up. In fact, the hashtag is still cooking on Twitter now. Here’s a taste:

Flies all over the soda fountains, the pervasive smell of urine, and the constant brawling between the local drunk bums. #McDstories

— Steve Rechtman (@steverechtman) January 24, 2012

I once caught two coworkers peeing into the pickle barrel at McDonald’s. #McDStories

— OhMayaGOD (@OhMayaGOD) January 24, 2012

I almost had a McDonald’s relapse…then I saw the #McDStories campaign. Cravings gone, forever. read.bi/yACzE4

— Kendall Thornton (@kendallSF) January 24, 2012

Ate a McFish and vomited 1 hour later….The last time I got McDonalds was seriously 18 years ago in college….. #McDstories

— RsyP (@stilletochemist) January 24, 2012

I haven’t been to McDonalds in years, because I’d rather eat my own diarrhea. #McDStories

— Robby Kenison (@Muzzafuzza) January 18, 2012

“As Twitter continues to evolve its platform and engagement opportunities, we’re learning from our experiences,” Rick Wion, McDonald’s social media director, told the L.A. Times.

So there’s the hot, juicy lesson for mega corporations — think twice before starting a #hashtag. You want fries with that?

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The McRib was first introduced in 1982, but was pulled a few years later as sales dwindled. However, the sandwich was often brought back on the McDonalds menu as a promotional item in subsequent years. As in any emotionally manipulative relationship, the sandwich’s inconstancy only increased its admirers’ attachment to it, and with the coming of the Internet age McRib fans were able to band together and share tales of its periodic returns. Each time, the McRib becomes the hot topic on social networks — check out today’s #occupymcrib hash tag on Twitter — and there is even a website dedicated to reporting McRib sightings across the country with a locator map.

Since then, McDonalds has made a show of bringing back the sandwich each fall. The fast food giant enjoyed a 4.8 percent sales spike during the McRib’s brief comeback last November, before ripping the sandwich away from its heartbroken admirers once again.

McDonalds said on Monday that the increase in sales “best showcased the passion consumers exhibit for this elusive sandwich.”

Made with pork meat molded into the shape of ribs, the McRib sandwich contains 540 calories, 26 grams of fat and 980 milligrams of sodium. Ironically, the sandwich’s return is only a few months after McDonald’s announced a new healthy happy meal initiative that cut calories in the kids’ meals by 20 percent. Adults, though, they’re free to keep eating as horribly as they like!

So go ahead, get your eager paws on a McRib while you still can. We don’t know about you, but the McRib’s return has us saying, “I’m lovin’ it!”

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I mention it because I suspect he was the mastermind behind the headline-grabbing move this week to add apples to Happy Meals, ease up on the fries and blunt the gnashing teeth of some McDonald’s detractors.

In a public relations coup, the golden arches gang rolled out full-page advertisements in newspapers saying, in effect: We get it. You’re no longer impressed by the billions of hamburgers we’ve sold, and you’re tired of puffing like steam engines every time you tie your shoes. You want us to lay off the lard.

If only Washington could be so efficient.  
 
Welcome to the Capitol Hill Drive-Thru, would you like to try our new Immigration Policy/Gay Marriage mcombo?”

“Uh, ok.  How long will it take?”

“Forever.”

“Hmmm. How about an order of Bipartisanship with a side of Accountability?”

“Sorry. Fresh out.”

“By the way, the Health Care Reform Frittatas I ordered recently seemed a little skimpy.”

“Hey, pal, we’re doing what we can.”

“Then just give me a quick Debt Ceiling Deal salad.”

“Yeah. About that … ”

The goals of business and of government are admittedly different, yet you would think that each has at least some need to respond to the public. After all, McDonald’s faces a re-election of sorts every day. If they don’t deliver what people are after, their constituents will toddle off to Wendy’s, Burger King or somewhere else. So if people want more apples and fewer fries, that’s what they sell.  Heck, if demand for vegetables went wild, I’m sure we’d see McCarrots in a heartbeat.  Ideology is not on the menu.  

Washington, however, is a like a restaurant that can’t decide if it is cooking burgers or pizza — and refuses to acknowledge that the public is hungry for chicken. No matter how many voters say they want more cooperation and compromise, the big political players plow right ahead pushing a steady diet of bickering, partisan warfare and the special sauce of scare tactics.
 
Sure, they can always find someone to blame for the latest disconnect, but this restaurant seems to keep going downhill, no matter how many times the management changes.

– CNN’s Tom Foreman is a regular on “AC360°”/www.ac360.com and “The Situation Room.”

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McDonald’s says these adjustments will give the happy meal about 20 percent fewer calories than it has now, making them under 600 calories. Last time Metro checked, that wasn’t exactly “healthy,” but it’s a start. Parents and lawmakers have been after McDonald’s for years to make its happy meals healthier and to stop using toys to lure children toward fatty, though delicious, food. But we grew up eating them and we turned out okay! Besides, of course, that nearly 34 percent obesity rate in our country…

McDonald’s says the new happy meals have been in the works for two years
and that more changes could be coming in the future, including the
addition of a vegetable. So brace yourself for those carrot sticks.
There is one other thing, however, that McDonald’s forgot (or not) to
change: the price. That part will remain exactly the same.

While the happy meal will get a slim down, the iconic happy meal toy will remain. It may be responsible for the majority of toddler to toddler violence, but it is simply un-American to have a happy meal without a toy!

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The global restaurant chain said it plans to hire as many as 50,000 new U.S. employees — ranging from restaurant crew to managers — on April 19. The move would increase the hamburger company’s U.S. workforce by 7.7 percent to 700,000, but such hiring is typical in the leadup to the busy summer months.

“Our total hires are similar to past years, but the goal of hiring 50,000 people in one day across the U.S. is unique,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Ashlee Yingling told Reuters.

The April hiring event is preparation for the busy summer months. “But these are not just seasonal jobs. It’s a mix of permanent and temporary jobs,” Yingling said.

She added that hourly employees often make more than $8 per hour.

There are some 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants in the United States. Ninety percent of its U.S. restaurants are run by franchisees, and pay varies by ownership.

Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s said in a statement that its April hiring event is an opportunity to highlight that “a McJob is one with career growth and endless possibilities.”

Yingling said many of McDonald’s top executives and franchisees worked their way up the company. 

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McDonald’s has long cringed at the popular slang phrase, which
refers to low-paid service industry positions that offer little in the
way of benefits or long-term career prospects, and protested the word’s
addition to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2003.

As Reuters reports:

Oak Brook, Illinois-based McDonald’s said in a statement that its
April hiring event is an opportunity to highlight that "a McJob is one
with career growth and endless possibilities."

[McDonald's spokewoman Ashlee] Yingling said many of McDonald’s top executives and franchisees worked their way up the company.

The new hires would increase the company’s U.S. workforce by 7%,
though industry observers caution that fast food franchises often ramp
up their workforce for the busy summer months by hiring a similar number
of seasonal employees. McDonald’s says the April hires will be a mix of
permanent and temporary employees.

McDonald’s hourly employees often make more $8 an hour. The health care plans they receive recently came under criticism from Slate
as "ersatz insurance" and "bait-and-switch schemes," after the
Department of Health and Human Services granted McDonald’s an exception
from health care reform legislation. (via Reuters)

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Analysts projected sales would rise 4.5 percent, according to the median of five estimates. Sales increased 7 percent in Europe, driven by new products and breakfast items, the Oak Brook, Ill.-based company said. That exceeded the 4 percent gain estimated by analysts.

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“Go, go, go,” yells their Taiwanese teacher, exhorting them to work for the prize, a box of Danish butter cookies, for being the first to build the company’s trademark Golden Arches. Above their heads is a sign that reads: “Learning today, leading tomorrow.”

This is McDonald’s Hamburger University in China, and it can be harder to get into than Harvard.

The 16,846-square-foot facility doesn’t have a pool or gym, and its one-room library holds books with titles such as “Just Listen,” “Personal Accountability” and “None Of Us Is As Good As All Of Us: How McDonald’s Prospers By Embracing Inclusion and Diversity.”

McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Skinner, who was paid $17.6 million in 2009, started as a management trainee in 1971 after serving in the Navy, according to the company’s website.

The world’s biggest restaurant operator moved the training center from Hong Kong last year as it expands in mainland China, where its market share is less than half of KFC owner Yum! Brands. The Yum! market value surged 40 percent last year, compared with McDonald’s 23 percent gain.

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Net income rose to $1.24 billion the company said today in a statement. December sales in the U.S. were hurt by inclement weather, the retailer said, damping demand for frappes and the new Angus snack wraps that drew customers during non-meal times in the previous months.

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