Fast food workers and activists demonstrate outside the McDonald's corporate campus in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Fast food workers and activists demonstrate outside the McDonald's corporate campus in Oak Brook, Illinois. Photo: AFP

Chicago: Hundreds of protesters pushing for higher fast-food wages returned to protest outside McDonald's Corp.'s headquarters on Thursday as activists attending the world's largest hamburger chain's annual meeting peppered executives with questions on topics ranging from marketing practices to employee compensation.

Thursday's smaller protest near the company's Illinois campus came after a Wednesday afternoon march and protest in which 138 individuals, including 101 McDonald's workers, were arrested for trespassing on the company's property.

The push to raise fast-food and retail employees' wages has led to protests nationwide since the movement took shape in 2012, with demonstrations from New York to Los Angeles that are organised by groups financially backed by the Service Employees International Union.

Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets near the McDonald's Corp. headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Hundreds of protesters flooded the streets near the McDonald's Corp. headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. Photo: AP

Protesters began their rally before 7am and the annual meeting began on time at 8am. Protesters gathered outside voluntarily left around 8:30am, about 45 minutes before the meeting ended. Shouting, "We'll be back," they walked to a line of buses.

While the company spends "billions" on sponsorships, marketing and executive compensation, "many of your employees can barely make ends meet on poverty wages," said Sriram Madhusoodanan, an organiser with the group Corporate Accountability International.

That group has gathered several people, including mom bloggers, to criticise McDonald's for marketing efforts such as using the clown character Ronald McDonald and hiring basketball star LeBron James as a spokesman.

Chief Executive Don Thompson said that McDonald's is not "predatory" or focused on marketing to children.

"We are people. We do have values at McDonald's. We are parents," Mr Thompson said.

Sally Kuzemchak, who writes the parenting blog Real Mom Nutrition, asked Mr Thompson how he justifies marketing to children. She said that her two children paid no attention to the McDonald's near their Ohio home until a Ronald McDonald balloon appeared on the building.

Mr Thompson said that his children ate at McDonald's when they were younger and that his daughter is now a track star.

Mr Thompson, McDonald's CEO since July 2012, has faced a tough time including the low-wage employee protests, rising food costs and slumping sales in key markets such as the United States.

A child introduced as Bob told Mr Thompson that someday he would like to be considered for the CEO's job.

"Bob, there are some days I'm ready to give it to you, buddy," Mr Thompson joked.

Thompson did point out the presence of protesters and discussed the company's jobs as a starting point for opportunity.

"I know that we have a few extra folks outside, thank you for your patience," Mr Thompson told shareholders. He said the company continues to believe that it pays "fair" wages and offers opportunities for advancement and job training.

As in the past, he pointed out that many people have moved up the ladder at McDonald's. One example he gave on Thursday was Chief Operating Officer Tim Fenton, who began as a McDonald's crew member at a restaurant in Utica, NY in 1973 and is set to retire later this year.

During the meeting, one of the people picked to ask a question was a man who said that he started as a McDonald's employee, worked his way up and is now submitting an application to buy his first McDonald's, a story that was met with applause from the crowd of shareholders.

One of the protesters outside, Melinda Topel, of Kansas City, Missouri, said she has worked for McDonald's "on and off" for 10 years. She was among those arrested while protesting on Wednesday.

Ms Topel said that she was making $US9.50 an hour in 2007, when she left McDonald's to pursue an associate's degree, and now makes $US7.50 an hour.

"It's almost next to impossible. We have to budget every penny. We have to rely on social services, things like food stamps," Ms Topel said.

Chicago Tribune