What you should know
- New York City fast food workers celebrate a new victory after the City Council passed a package of bills that protects them from unjustified layoffs and reduced hours.
- The approval of the package of bills was given on Thursday, December 17, which also requires fast food restaurant employers who have to lay off employees for any economic reason to do so in order of the worker’s seniority.
- In all, there are about 57,000 New York City fast food workers who would benefit from these bills. In this way, they become the first in the nation to receive this benefit.
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NEW YORK – New York City fast food workers celebrate a new victory after the City Council passed a package of bills that protects them from unjustified layoffs and reduced hours.
The approval of the package of bills was given on Thursday, December 17, which also requires fast food restaurant employers who have to lay off employees for any economic reason to do so in order of the worker’s seniority.
“When I got fired, it happened during a shift, and the manager told me to go home because I wasn’t smiling. There weren’t even customers in the store at the time, ”said Melody Walker, a fast food worker who was laid off from Chipotle. “If we had just cause laws, I would not have lost my job and my means to support my two children as a single mother. With today’s victory, I hope that no other fast food worker in New York City has to go through the fear and financial insecurity that I experienced when I was unfairly fired. “
In the statement, it is highlighted that fast food workers are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic but, until now, they could be laid off or have hours cut for any reason or no reason. Meanwhile, large publicly traded fast food companies such as McDonald and Chipotle have seen billions in profits during the pandemic, with stock prices rising by at least 30 percent and company values also rising. billions, they say.
“Our 175,000 members are very proud of this historic victory. Because of their tireless work alongside New York City fast food workers who have rallied, testified and organized together, we can now say that New York City is the first place in the country where fast food workers they will no longer be employees at will, ”said the president of the real estate services workers union 32BJ SEIU, Kyle Bragg.
In the report, they say that while New York fast food workers struggle to protect their health and earn enough money to support their families, they still have precarious jobs and, until now, have had little recourse if they are laid off or cut hours. without reason. Fast food workers are predominantly immigrants or women of color who face discrimination and racism in their communities and at work.
In all, there are about 57,000 New York City fast food workers who would benefit from these bills. In this way, they become the first in the nation to receive this benefit.
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