Black Eye for McDonald’s, Potentially Big Win for American Workers

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/labor/black-eye-mcdonalds-potentially-big-win-american-workers




Business as usual in the fast-food world just got a big kick in the kneecaps. Hooray!

Attorneys for workers at McDonald's have filed class-action suits in three states stuffed with complaints about how the company illegally ripped off employee wages in a variety of ways, from calling people in yet forcing them to wait to clock in to charging for the cost of uniforms.

Most of more than 14,000 McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. are owned and operated by franchisees, a practice also followed by other chains like Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut (owned by Yum Brands). This allows the companies to pretend that they have nothing to do with issues like wage violations at franchised locations. But this argument has never really washed, because the company is deeply involved in setting up how these businesses are run, down to the uniforms and training manuals.

Micah Wissinger, an attorney who represents McDonald’s workers in New York City, explained to BusinessWeek that the company even uses “computer systems that measure and track every aspect of the store’s operations.”

McDonald’s and other fast-food companies have sought to have it both ways.

[Heather MC]

1. I hate McDonalds, hope they go away