McDonald's workers in 19 cities -- including one in Philadelphia -- filed complaints earlier this week over burns from popping grease -- and the lackluster care to treat them -- a lack of protective equipment and other workplace hazards, according to labor organizers.
The complaints are the latest move in an ongoing campaign to win pay of $15 an hour and unionization for fast-food workers by publicly pressuring McDonald's to come to the bargaining table. The push is being spearheaded by the Service Employees International Union and began more than two years ago. Already, it has included protests around the country and lawsuits alleging workers weren't given their rightful pay.
Complainant Bernard Giddings, who works at a Philadelphia McDonald’s, told Bloomberg that he didn't get much sympathy or help after getting burned. "Once I burned my arm so badly that I now have a scar, but when I asked my manager for burn cream, she just said, ‘Put mayonnaise on it, you’ll be good.’”
The burns and other hazards were detailed in complaints announced Monday and filed with U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration in recent weeks. Workers cite a persistent lack of gloves for handling hot equipment and say they've been burned while cleaning grills that have to be kept on.
The complaints also detail a lack of training for handling hot fryers and slipping on wet floors.
A representative for the Labor Department, Laura McGinnis, confirmed the complaints were received by OSHA but said the agency does not discuss ongoing investigations.
In a statement, McDonald's Corp. said the company and its independent franchisees are committed to providing safe working conditions for employees, and will review the allegations. "It is important to note that these complaints are part of a larger strategy orchestrated by activists targeting our brand and designed to generate media coverage," Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem, a McDonald's spokeswoman, said in the statement.
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The complaints extend a central theme of the "Fight for $15" campaign, which has been to hold McDonald's accountable for working conditions at its franchised locations. That would ease the way for worker negotiations and unionization across the company's more than 14,000 U.S. restaurants, the vast majority of which are run by franchisees. McDonald's and other fast-food chains, including Burger King and Wendy's, have said they're not responsible for employment decisions at franchised restaurants.
Mary Vogel, executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, said in a conference call organized by labor groups that the burns and other hazards detailed in the complaints are "pretty universal" in the fast-food industry.
McDonald's, which saw customer visits at established U.S. locations decline in each of the past two years, has been trying to reinvigorate its image. Earlier this month, the company's chief administrative officer, Pete Bensen, said a big part of the U.S. turnaround will be what the company is doing around "the employment image and our employee-employer relationships."
