Posted on 01/12/2016 11:48:11 AM PST by Citizen Zed
Summary:
- It's the SEIU behind the complaint against MCD.
- This is about the fight for fifteen and a union in the US, not Italy or Europe.
- MCD doesn't even have the dominant market position being complained about.
Something of a fun complaint out of Italy about McDonald's (NYSE:MCD). That being that they own most of the real estate which is used to underlie McDonald's franchises: and that they then charge well above market rents for that real estate. Rather breathlessly we get told that this is an abuse of their dominant market position and that the European Commission could fine them as much as $9 billion as a result of this.
That's really a very hopeful point they're making there: there's a very long way to go before any of this is proven and anyone can indeed make a complaint to the European Commission. This is also really nothing at all about real estate in Italy or Europe: this is being backed by the SEIU, the same people behind the Fight for $15 in the US. And the basic tactic seems to be continuing to throw up whatever problems they can for the main opponent to that idea, McDonald's, while being involved in that fight for $15.
Further, there's a very basic problem with the original complaint. Which is that the real estate for a McDonald's is a different market from that for an office, an apartment, even a KFC. So, the rent being charged for a Maccy D's is in fact the market rent for a Maccy D's. They can't be charging above the market rent if they are, umm, charging the market rent.
And it's also obviously true that all of these terms are made entirely clear before a franchisee signs...
(Excerpt) Read more at seekingalpha.com ...
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