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Kathryn Slater-Carter, who owns a McDonald's in Daly City, California, told the Washington Post that she and other franchisees are squeezed for money because operations costs are high and McDonald's frequent promotions hurt sales.
She approached the company with that complaint several years ago and was allegedly told by a McDonald's representative, "You guys can make more money if you pay your employees less," she told the Post.
"We try and accommodate our workers, but there's several issues," Slater-Carter said. "The way McDonalds does it, they work to bring customers into the stores with their very low prices. So the difference for us between a dollar hamburger and a $3 hamburger is huge. So that was why I was telling McDonald's that you have to get away from these low value sandwiches years ago, and they said, 'just pay your employees less.'"
We reached out to McDonald's for comment and will update when we hear back.
McDonald's managers have spoken out in the past regarding pressure from the company to cut costs, which in some cases, resulted in employees getting their pay docked.
In April, two managers admitted to engaging in illegal practices - such as asking employees to clock out and continue working - in order to cut costs.
"There was so much pressure," Lakia Williams, a former assistant manager at a McDonald's in Charleston, S.C., said in an interview with Bloomberg. "It's not only the franchisees group and the general managers, it is corporate. It's something internal, it's something deeper, and it's something that has been going on for years."
The managers came forward on behalf of Fast Food Forward, an advocacy group fighting for better pay and working conditions for fast food employees. The group has received funding from the Service Employees International Union.
Since 1985, McDonald's has been found in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and had to pay back wages more than 300 times, according to CNN.