McDonald's shareholders on Thursday overwhelmingly approved an advisory measure on executive pay at the fast-food chain, where CEO Don Thompson took home total compensation of $9.5 million in 2013.
Nearly 94 percent of shares were voted in favor of the measure, the company said at its annual meeting in Oak Brook, Illinois. With their non-binding vote, shareholders approved how much compensation McDonald's executives received as well as the formulas used to calculate that pay.
The vote came as the chain wrestles with market share losses to U.S. rivals, profit-squeezing spikes in beef costs, criticism from some parents and public health experts over its food and advertising, and noisy protests over the low pay of hourly workers.
Police on Wednesday arrested more than 100 demonstrators seeking better pay for McDonald's workers as protesters swarmed the fast-food chain's corporate campus near Chicago to demand a minimum wage of $15 an hour and the right to unionize.