As McDonald’s Moved to Raise Workers’ Pay, Its Lobbyists Urged Caution on Wage Hike

Around the same time McDonald’s Corp. was deciding to raise wages for the lowest-paid workers at company-owned restaurants, it was also lobbying Congress on the potential negative impact that increasing the federal minimum wage could have on small- and medium-sized businesses, like those that run most of the fast food giant’s franchise locations across the country.

Lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck worked on behalf of McDonald’s during the first three months of the year to inform lawmakers about the company’s decision to raise the minimum pay for workers at company-owned restaurants to at least $1 more than the local ...