McDonald's Plans Raise for Chinese Workers

Bowing to pressure from the state labor union and attempting to counter negative publicity, McDonald's will raise wages for its Chinese employees. The fast-food megalith will boost the pay of 45,000 full- and part-time workers by an average of 30%, the Wall Street Journal reports, and issue counter workers new uniforms they chose themselves.

McDonald's had been criticized for underpaying part-time workers but wasn’t found to have violated the law. A spokesman says the raises were already in the works and were sped up after an avalanche of bad press. The company is particularly sensitive because it's rapidly expanding in China and is a major sponsor of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. (More China stories.)