USA: McDonald's workers plan one-day walkout over sexual harassment of employees
"McDonald's workers plan one-day strike to protest sexual harassment of employees", 22 October 2021
McDonald's workers in several cities are planning a one-day walkout...to protest what they say is continued sexual harassment of employees and to call for the workforce to unionize to help address the problem.
Employees in at least 10 cities including Chicago, St. Louis and Tampa, Florida, intend to strike in response to the alleged rape of a 14-year-old McDonald's worker in Pittsburgh by her manager, and other allegations of harassment at the fast-food giant's restaurants, according to Fight for $15 and a Union, a group of fast-food and other low-wage workers that's organizing the walkout...
In April, McDonald's announced new global guidelines focused on several areas, including the prevention of harassment, discrimination, retaliation and job site violence...
“Every single person working at a McDonald’s restaurant deserves to feel safe and respected when they come to work, and sexual harassment and assault have no place in any McDonald’s restaurant,'' McDonald's U.S. said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. "We know more work is needed to further our workplace ambitions, which is why all 40,000 McDonald’s restaurants will be assessed and accountable to global brand standards."
But workers and labor advocates say they've seen little progress so far, and they believe a union can help employees gain better protections from harassment and other workplace challenges...
In September, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit alleging that AMTCR, a McDonald's franchisee, did not respond sufficiently to numerous complaints that mostly teenage workers were being sexually harassed at many of the roughly 22 McDonald's restaurants it runs...
That same month, a McDonald's employee filed suit alleging that a manager raped her in a Pittsburgh restaurant in February when she was 14 years old...