Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Judge Temporarily Halts Construction at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center

4 hours ago

US Issues New Iran-Related Sanctions, Treasury Says

6 hours ago

Netanyahu Says He Wants Israel to Take Control of All of Gaza

7 hours ago

OpenAI Launches GPT-5 as the AI Industry Seeks a Return on Investment

7 hours ago

Americans Divided More Than Ever on Supreme Court and Congress: Gallup Poll

7 hours ago

FBI to Track Down Texas Democrats Who Fled Over Redistrict Vote, US Senator Says

8 hours ago

Body Recovered from California Aqueduct in Kings County, Authorities Say

9 hours ago

Nearly 12,000 Children Under Five in Gaza Have Acute Malnutrition, Says WHO

10 hours ago

Trump to Sign Order Opening Way for Alternative Assets in 401(K)S, Official Says

10 hours ago

Fresno Man Who Drugged and Sexually Abused Minors Sentenced to 53 Years to Life

1 day ago
Some McDonald's Workers Vote to Strike Over Sex Harassment
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 7 years ago on
September 12, 2018

Share

NEW YORK — Emboldened by the #MeToo movement, McDonald’s workers have voted to stage a one-day strike next week at restaurants in 10 cities in hopes of pressuring management to take stronger steps against on-the-job sexual harassment. Organizers say it will be the first multi-state strike in the U.S. specifically targeting sexual harassment.

Organizers say it will be the first multi-state strike in the U.S. specifically targeting sexual harassment.
Plans for the walkout — to start at lunchtime on Sept. 18 — have been approved in recent days by “women’s committees” formed by employees at dozens of McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S. Lead organizers include several women who filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in May alleging pervasive harassment at some of McDonald’s franchise restaurants.
The strike comes as union-backed organizations have been putting pressure on McDonald’s on several fronts for better working conditions, including $15 an hour wages — at a burger chain that employs tens of thousands of people around the country, many of them at low pay.
Organizers said the strike would target multiple restaurants — but not every local McDonald’s — in each of the 10 cities: Chicago; Durham, North Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; Miami; Milwaukee; New Orleans; Orlando, Florida; San Francisco and St. Louis.
They said they could not predict with precision how many workers would join the strike, but noted that hundreds of workers had participated in the committee meetings at which the strike was planned.

Anti-Harassment Efforts

McDonald’s, in an e-mail to The Associated Press, defended its anti-harassment efforts.

“We have policies, procedures and training in place that are specifically designed to prevent sexual harassment at our company and company-owned restaurants, and we firmly believe that our franchisees share this commitment.” McDonald’s
“We have policies, procedures and training in place that are specifically designed to prevent sexual harassment at our company and company-owned restaurants, and we firmly believe that our franchisees share this commitment,” the company said.
The company also disclosed a new initiative that will engage outside experts to work with the company to help “evolve” those policies and procedures. Some of the experts would come from Seyfarth Shaw at Work, an employment law training firm, and RAINN, an anti-sexual violence organization.
Labor lawyer Mary Joyce Carlson, who has been collaborating with women who filed the EEOC complaints, says the company needs to back up such gestures with tougher enforcement.
“We see no evidence there’s been any change at all,” she said. “Whatever policy they have is not effective.”
Organizers of the planned walkout say strikers will be demanding that the company improve procedures for receiving and responding to harassment complaints, and require anti-harassment training for managers and employees. Another demand will be formation of a national committee to address sexual harassment, comprised of workers, representatives from corporate and franchise stores, and leaders of national women’s groups.
Carlson is an attorney for Fight for $15, a national movement seeking to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour. She said McDonald’s has successfully resisted efforts to unionize its employees, and suggested that workers’ anger related to sexual harassment might fuel broader efforts to gain better working conditions.

Sustained Verbal and Physical Harassment

Among the strike organizers is Tanya Harrell, 22, of New Orleans, who filed a complaint with the EEOC in May alleging that her two managers at a local McDonald’s teased her, but otherwise took no action after she told them of sustained verbal and physical harassment by a co-worker. Harrell, who makes $8.15 an hour, said she and many of her colleagues were skeptical of the company’s commitment to combating harassment.

“They want people to think they care, but they don’t care. They could do a way more better job.” — Tanya Harrell, New Orleans McDonald’s worker
“They want people to think they care, but they don’t care,” she said. “They could do a way more better job.”
Another organizer is Kim Lawson, 25, of Kansas City, who also filed an EEOC complaint alleging that managers responded ineffectively when she reported sexual harassment by a co-worker.
Lawson, who has a 4-year-old daughter, says she makes $9 an hour. She is heartened by strong support from other workers for the planned walkout.
“Everybody’s been brave about it,” she said. “It’s time to stand up for what we believe in.”
Thus far, the nearly year-old #MeToo movement has not triggered a strike targeting a specific U.S. company. Last March, on International Women’s Day, there were broad-based calls for women to stay away from work in several countries, notably in Western Europe.
Annelise Orleck, a history professor at Dartmouth College who has written about low-wage workers, said she knows of only one precedent in the United States to the planned McDonald’s walkout.
In 1912, she said, several hundred garment workers at a corset factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, walked off the job in a strike prompted by pervasive sexual harassment, as well as other poor working conditions. The strikers did not win all of their demands, but succeeded in winning public support and drawing attention to workplace abuses.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Judge Arlan Harrell Elevated to Appeal Court

DON'T MISS

Trump Signs Memo Requiring Universities Disclose Admissions Data on Race

DON'T MISS

Fresno Teachers Demand Board Members Hear Nikki Henry Settlement

DON'T MISS

Ford Delays Electric Pickup, Van to 2028 as It Chases Smaller, Affordable Options

DON'T MISS

SE Fresno Sports Complex Gets a Name. Is It Bold or Blah?

DON'T MISS

Trump Asks US Supreme Court to Lift Limits on Immigration Raids

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Democrats Condemn Israeli Military Action in Gaza as Genocide

DON'T MISS

Judge Temporarily Halts Construction at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center

DON'T MISS

You’ll Sing ‘Me and My Shadow’ After Adopting This Cool Cat

DON'T MISS

Californians by the Millions Could Lose Medicaid Under Work Requirement

UP NEXT

FBI to Track Down Texas Democrats Who Fled Over Redistrict Vote, US Senator Says

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Order Requiring Universities Disclose Admissions Data on Race

UP NEXT

Trump to Sign Order Opening Way for Alternative Assets in 401(K)S, Official Says

UP NEXT

Trump Calls on ‘Highly Conflicted’ Intel CEO to Resign Over China Ties

UP NEXT

Trump Says US Will Charge Tariff of About 100% on Semiconductor Imports

UP NEXT

Trump Weighs Getting Involved in New York City Mayor Race

UP NEXT

Apple Commits Additional $100 Billion to US Investments

UP NEXT

US Army Sergeant Suspected of Shooting, Wounding Five Fellow Soldiers at Fort Stewart in Georgia

UP NEXT

Switzerland Facing 39% US Tariff as President Leaves Washington Empty-Handed

UP NEXT

Five US Soldiers Shot at Georgia Base, Shooter in Custody

Ford Delays Electric Pickup, Van to 2028 as It Chases Smaller, Affordable Options

2 hours ago

SE Fresno Sports Complex Gets a Name. Is It Bold or Blah?

3 hours ago

Trump Asks US Supreme Court to Lift Limits on Immigration Raids

3 hours ago

Fresno County Democrats Condemn Israeli Military Action in Gaza as Genocide

3 hours ago

Judge Temporarily Halts Construction at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center

4 hours ago

You’ll Sing ‘Me and My Shadow’ After Adopting This Cool Cat

4 hours ago

Californians by the Millions Could Lose Medicaid Under Work Requirement

5 hours ago

Clovis Police Arrest Two Men in Child Porn Investigation

5 hours ago

Now That Harris Is Out, California’s Governor Candidates Hit the Money Trail

6 hours ago

US Issues New Iran-Related Sanctions, Treasury Says

6 hours ago

Judge Arlan Harrell Elevated to Appeal Court

Judge Arlan Harrell is receiving a promotion. Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed Harrell as an associate justice to the 5th District Court of A...

2 hours ago

Judge Arlan Harrell
2 hours ago

Judge Arlan Harrell Elevated to Appeal Court

2 hours ago

Trump Signs Memo Requiring Universities Disclose Admissions Data on Race

2 hours ago

Fresno Teachers Demand Board Members Hear Nikki Henry Settlement

2 hours ago

Ford Delays Electric Pickup, Van to 2028 as It Chases Smaller, Affordable Options

3 hours ago

SE Fresno Sports Complex Gets a Name. Is It Bold or Blah?

3 hours ago

Trump Asks US Supreme Court to Lift Limits on Immigration Raids

Fresno County Democrats calling for an end to Israeli military action in Gaza
3 hours ago

Fresno County Democrats Condemn Israeli Military Action in Gaza as Genocide

4 hours ago

Judge Temporarily Halts Construction at ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend