I’ve lived through the same conditions myself, but I still have the advantage of being able to look at history and see that from 1955 when it started until the 80’s, the average McDonald’s franchise worker still was paid a living wage for their respective time periods.
The problem isn’t the model of business. It’s the greed of the people who run the business. The only laws necessary to fix this problem are keeping minimum wage up with inflation and the cost of living. If $16/hour isn’t a living wage (such as it is in California), the minimum needs to be higher. If the business can not provide that, they can not afford the cost of doing business and deserve to go out of business.
The wage problem is not caused by the franchise model. It’s not even exclusive to franchised businesses; it’s practically every single business across all sectors. From retail and customer service, to tech and medical care positions. If they’re not compelled to pay you enough to survive, they won’t. The libertarian idea that businesses will self-regulate is a delusion that doesn’t happen in reality. They must be compelled through law to be safe and fair or they’re just going to do whatever they can get away with.