As America continues to lose manufacturing and construction jobs that pay living wages for a family, fast food jobs like those at Burger King -- the second largest fast food hamburger restaurant in the world ⎯ are taking their place as a key part of the American economy:

• Between 2006 and 2016, food service is expected to add one million new jobs, more than any other U.S. industry.

• Fast food led the food service industry in employment demand as of October 2008.

• The days of fast food as mainly a workplace for teens who need spending money are over ⎯ as of 2006, more than 85% of workers in the occupation "combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food" are parents responsible for children in their household.

Yet while the fast food industry's importance in the economy grows, Burger King's business model remains the same ⎯ a model which barely allows employees to eat at the restaurants they work in, even though profits and CEO pay soar:

• Since a 2006 IPO by Burger King owners Texas Pacific Group (TPG), Goldman Sachs, and Bain Capital, revenues are up 23% and net income has increased 607%.

• Burger King chief executive John Chidsey received total compensation of $5.4 million in 2008. Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Burger King owner Goldman Sachs, netted over $70.3 million in total compensation in 2007, the most ever for a Wall Street CEO.

• Burger King fast food workers struggle to get by on a median wage of $6.93 per hour. For full-time employees, this wage amounts to just over $14,000 annually, well below the federal poverty line for a family of three.

Rather than offering affordable health coverage, Burger King leaves its workers to rely on publicly-funded health programs instead ⎯ shifting the cost to taxpayers.

• The health and other public assistance programs that Burger King employees must rely on due to sub-poverty pay and lack of employer health coverage cost an estimated $273.4 million in 2007. In other words, taxpayers are picking up the tab for a lot more than their combo meal at Burger King ⎯ they're paying over a quarter of a billion dollars a year to help make up for the company's low pay and benefits.

Burger King's most prominent owner, Goldman Sachs, is taking taxpayer money, too ⎯ to cover bonuses rather than relief for working families:

• Goldman Sachs is one of Burger King's largest owners, along with TPG and Bain
Capital, and these firms control the Burger King board through seats on its
executive committee.
• One of the top ten sellers of asset and mortgage‐backed securities at the height of the real estate bubble, Goldman directly received $10 billion in taxpayer bailout money and then paid out $6.5 billion in bonuses. Goldman's average bonus of $218,193 per employee was the highest average among former Wall Street investment banks and nearly double the average Wall St. bonus. While Goldman's top seven executives announced they would forgo bonuses, they still paid out $3 to $4 million packages to 440 Goldman partners.

The Goldman bonuses alone could provide an $18,000 pay increase for each of Burger King's 360,000 corporate and franchise employees ⎯ more than doubling an average fast food worker's $14,000 annual salary and contributing to a meaningful economic stimulus by putting discretionary income in the hands of hundreds of thousands of American families.

While Burger King and its top owners like Goldman Sachs have taxpayers cover costs like worker health care, high CEO pay, and bonuses, both companies oppose measures that would improve conditions for workers:

• Burger King executives doled out $180,000 to lobbyists to fight pro‐worker legislation, including an increase in the minimum wage in 2006 and 2007.
• Between 2006 and 2008, Burger King spent $319,648 in lobbying against several laws, including the Employee Free Choice Act, a measure that would ensure workers the freedom to form a union for a voice for improved wages, benefits, and working conditions.

• Burger King's record also includes a history of inadequately protecting against sexual harassment at its restaurants, opposing measures to improve employee safety on the job, and child labor law violations.
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Goldman Sachs is involved in lobbying against workers' interests as a member of the Business Roundtable, which spent $15,849,000 on lobbying in 2008 according to the Center for Responsive Politics, including lobbying against the Employee Free Choice Act in the third and fourth quarters last year.

Recommendations

The taxpayer-funded bailout of Goldman Sachs was intended for economic recovery, not for $6.5 billion in bonuses and practices that undermine our economy. In addition to assuring sound banking practices on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs must take responsibility for its important economic holdings on Main Street, such as Burger King.

Regulators should demand that bailout recipients stimulate the economy by increasing lending and by committing to the following for all direct employees and those in the companies they own:
1. Living wages
2. Affordable health benefits
3. Freedom for workers to choose to form unions and collectively bargain (Employee Free Choice)
4. Stronger health and safety protections for consumers and workers
5. Stronger protections against sexual harassment and other worker exploitation

Fast Food, Fast Growing: New Influence in the U.S. Economy

McDonalds and Burger King are two of the top ten U.S.-based companies in terms of global employment ⎯ larger than General Motors and Ford Motor Co.

King-Size Compensation at the Top, Poverty Pay for Employees
Goldman's CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, netted over $70.3 million in total compensation in 2007, the most ever for a Wall Street CEO. Burger King's chief executive, John Chidsey, received total compensation of $5.4 million in 2008. That's 4,800 times and 370 times more, respectively, than the median hourly pay of $6.93 for a for a full-time Burger King worker.

Bailout Baron: Goldman Sachs

Goldman has received:
→ Oct: $10 billion in government capital infusions.
→ Oct: Up to $37 billion in U.S. Treasury backing to absorb its losses related to AIG's failure.
→ Nov, Jan: At least $8.5 billion in notes backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Co. through the government's Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.
→ Dec: A contract of undisclosed value to manage the Federal Reserve's $500 billion purchase of mortgage-backed securities.

Where did the money go?
→ $6.5 billion in bonuses for financial staff at the end of 2008.
→ Investor dividends, which Goldman Sachs has maintained at $1.40/share annually, the highest level since 2003. Goldman announced the increase on December 16, 2008, well after the firm received federal bailout money
→ High-profile foreign acquisitions, including Constellation Energy Group, Inc. and Universal Studios Japan.
→ Early stock awards: In January, Goldman changed the rules for how the firm doles out certain stock grants, including easing the rules related to restricted stock. Shortly afterwards, CEO Lloyd Blankfein and 10 other Goldman executives acquired $29.7 million in shares under restricted stock awards that were granted in prior years.