CEOs at largest restaurants earn 733 times the minimum wage

CEOs at largest restaurants earn 733 times the minimum wage
Workers at a popular fast food chain. Working full-time, year round a minimum wage worker earns $15,080 a year. Flickr/Judy Baxter
CEOs at largest restaurants earn 733 times the minimum wage
Workers at a popular fast food chain. Working full-time, year round a minimum wage worker earns $15,080 a year. Flickr/Judy Baxter

CEOs at largest restaurants earn 733 times the minimum wage

WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

national study from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute shows CEOs at the largest restaurants earned 788 times more than minimum wage workers, like bussers and servers. The report says, “These corporate CEOs earn more on the first morning of the year than a minimum wage worker will earn over the course of a full year.”

Astar Herndon works for Restaurant Opportunities Center United in Chicago, a group that organizes restaurant workers.

“If you are able to pay CEO’s this high a wage, increasing the tipped minimum wage could be sustained. We’ve always know that, but this data proves it,” she said.

The Illinois Restaurant Association opposes raising the minimum wage. The organization said the industry is still reeling from the economic crisis and expects to be hit by hard by the Affordable Care Act as it takes effect.  It says raising the minimum wage would force some restaurants to lay off workers.

Shannon Heffernan is a WBEZ reporter. Follow her @shannon_h