McDonald’s workers voted to stage a one-day strike next week in 10 cities, according to a story in The Associated Press. The employees are hoping to pressure management “to take stronger steps against on-the-job sexual harassment,” the AP said.
McDonald’s responded with an emailed statement, saying: “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.”
Organizers of the walkout, scheduled for lunchtime on September 18, said it would be the first multistate strike in the U.S. specifically targeting sexual harassment. The AP said it has been approved by “women’s committees” formed by employees at “dozens of McDonald’s restaurants across the U.S.” Among the lead organizers are women who filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission this past May alleging “pervasive harassment at some McDonald’s franchise restaurants,” the AP said.
Restaurants in the following cities will participate. To note: not every local McDonald’s in these following areas are protesting. The AP said the organizers couldn’t predict the amount of workers planning to walkout, only that “hundreds of workers had participated in the committee meetings at which the strike was planned.”
- Durham, North Carolina
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Miami
- Los Angeles
- Milwaukee
- New Orleans
- St. Louis
- Chicago
- Orlando, Florida
- San Francisco
In addition to the statement, McDonald’s disclosed to the AP a new initiative that will engage outside experts to work with the company to further its policies and procedures regarding the prevention of workplace sexual harassment.
“Some of the experts would come from Seyfarth Shaw at Work, an employment law training firm, and RAINN, an anti-sexual violence organization,” the AP wrote.
The strikers are demanding McDonald’s improve its procedures for receiving and responding to harassment complaints, and to start requiring anti-harassment training for managers and employers. They will also be asking for the formation of a national committee to address sexual harassment. The committee would be formed by representatives of corporate and franchised units, workers, and leaders of national women’s groups, the AP said.
