Posts tagged: Featured

The Fight for $15 low wage movement has long had two goals: winning a $15 -an-hour wage for low-paid workers and a union for fast-food workers. On wages it has been a major success – seven states have enacted minimum wage laws scheduled to reach $15 – but so far it has made little progress unionizing fast-food workers. That could soon change.

A Manhattan-based union local that works closely with the Fight for $15 has launched an effort to unionize Chipotle and McDonald’s workers, getting workers at more than 50 restaurants to sign pro-union cards. “We’re running a campaign for workers in an industry that has been abusing its workers,” said Kyle Bragg, president of the local carrying out the unionization drive, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union. “These workers want a union. We’re organizing in order to lift workers and improve their lives.”

With its latest effort, Local 32BJ, a powerful local union with 175,000 members, hopes to make clear to Chipotle and McDonald’s that it is intent on unionizing their restaurants in New York, and they shouldn’t oppose that effort. Union officials say a majority of the hundreds of fast-food workers organizers have approached have signed cards supporting a union.

READ MORE at The Guardian >>

Workers at Chipotle Mexican Grille in New York City went on strike Tuesday over complaints about labor violations. The Service Employees International Union 32BJ said that more than 20 Chipotle restaurants in the city are facing complaints about last-minute scheduling.

“Keep your tacos, keep your bowls, pay your workers what they’re owed!” workers reportedly chanted in Greenwich Village.

A part-time worker, Carlos Hernandez, said he didn’t trust management at the company. “Right now, we’re fighting for our rights as Chipotle workers,” he told the New York Daily News.

“I honestly don’t believe the management shows the employees respect. They just don’t want to give us the hours. They don’t want to give us more money.”

Earlier this month, the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection sued Chipotle over a city law about giving workers a two-week advance notice about their work schedules and being entitled to extra pay for schedule changes at the last minute.

Read more at Splinter >>

Chipotle Mexican Grill is facing fresh claims that it violated New York City’s labor laws after the city sued the fast-casual restaurant chain two weeks ago.

Employees from five additional stores plan to file complaints with the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection on Tuesday and to walk off their jobs at lunchtime, according to Service Employees International Union 32BJ, the union organizing the workers.

“When fast food companies violate these provisions, workers lack the advance notice they need to plan other responsibilities such as second jobs, doctors’ appointments or childcare,” he said.

On Sept. 10, the city sued Chipotle, accusing it of violating its Fair Workweek Law by failing to provide schedules at least two weeks in advance and failing to pay premiums for last-minute schedule changes, among other claims.

The suit stemmed from complaints by more than 30 workers at five Chipotle restaurants in Brooklyn.

Read more at CNBC >>

Steve Vidal had worked at Chipotle Mexican Grill in Brooklyn for two years, moving from burrito folder to service manager, when he finally decided to quit last summer.

He said he grew frustrated of last-minute changes to his schedule, of managers retaliating against employees who complained by cutting their hours and of a murky sick-leave policy that left him wondering how to get his paid time off.

Mr. Vidal was one of more than 30 current or former Chipotle employees in the area who complained about working conditions at the restaurant to the city and to 32BJ SEIU, a local union trying to organize fast-food workers.

On Tuesday, after investigating the complaints, New York announced that it was suing the company for violating the city’s Fair Workweek Law.

The city is seeking at least $1 million in restitution for workers and penalties.

In its complaint, New York accused Chipotle of abusing workers at five of its locations in Brooklyn, including the one where Mr. Vidal most recently worked.

One current employee noted the irony of a company that constantly heralded its “Food with Integrity” mantra not taking the same approach with its work force.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they treat the animals better than they treat us,” said Jeremy Espinal, 20, an employee at a Chipotle in Greenwich Village.

The city said the lawsuit, filed with the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, was the first one brought against a publicly held corporate fast-food chain under the law, which was meant to give hourly workers more stable schedules and paychecks.

The Workweek law, which took effect in November 2017, requires that fast-food companies notify workers of their weekly schedules at least two weeks in advance.

Workers have to agree in writing to last-minute schedule changes and employers must pay workers a premium for making these changes. Companies are also required to give workers the opportunity for additional hours instead of hiring more part-timers.

Read more at the New York Times >>