McDonald’s could share responsibility for violations by some of its franchise operators, said the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Labor advocates applaud the ruling, which the fast-food chain vows to contest.
The ruling published Tuesday said the world’s
biggest fast-food chain could be determined as a joint employer
for workers at some of its franchise restaurants.
The labor regulator’s ruling comes in response to 181 unfair
labor practice complaints, filed by McDonald’s workers since
November 2012. The employees allege their bosses took punitive
measures against them, after they had participated in protests
for higher wages and better working conditions.
Forty-three of the cases have so far been found to have merit.
“If the parties cannot reach settlement in these cases,
complaints will be issued and McDonald’s, USA, LLC will be named
as a joint employer respondent,” says NLRB’s Tuesday ruling.
The statement has been keenly welcomed by labor groups, which
have long campaigned for McDonald’s to assume responsibly for its
franchise operated restaurants.
The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) on Twitter
described the decision as a “huge victory”.
HUGE victory for labor fast food workers! @McDonalds ruled joint
employer by NLRB: http://t.co/9Tv7MRx56Q #1u pic.twitter.com/ogMIMh4bfv
— SEIU (@SEIU) July 29,
2014
“There’s really no doubt who’s in charge,” said Micah
Wissinger, an attorney who brought a case on behalf of McDonald’s
workers in New York City.
The business community thinks otherwise. McDonald’s has described
the decision as wrong and has promised to fight it.
“McDonald’s also believes that this decision changes the
rules for thousands of small businesses, and goes against decades
of established law regarding the franchise model in the United
States,” senior vice president of human resources for
McDonald’s USA, Heather Smedstad, said in a statement.
In the US, 90% of more than 14,000 McDonald’s restaurants are
owned and operated by franchisees. The same is true for many
other restaurant chains or retailers which have been infuriated
with the NLRB ruling.
The International Franchise Association, which represents
franchisees, has opposed the possibility of McDonald’s qualifying
as a joint employer.
“If franchisors are joint employers with their franchisees,
these thousands of small business owners would lose control of
the operations and equity they worked so hard to build,” the
Association’s statement reads.
Worker groups argue that McDonald’s has its franchised
restaurants under much tougher control than it officially admits.
The US fast food industry has lately witnessed a wave of protests with participants demanding a raise in the
minimum wage to $15 per hour and a right to form unions.
McDonald’s and other companies have argued wages and working
conditions were set up by their franchisees and thus distanced
themselves from the rallies, something they might not be able to
do in future, if NLRB’s decision is upheld.
Article source: http://rt.com/business/176588-mcdonalds-liable-workers-franchisees/
Speak Your Mind
You must be logged in to post a comment.