McDonald's employees are organizing a second strike Tuesday in protest of alleged sexual harassment at multiple locations across the US.
The strike will continue the #MeToo movement by McDonald's that began in 2018.
McDonald's is just one of many worker strikes that have broken out in October across many industries.
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McDonald's employees are the latest to call for corporate change as they continue their "Striketober" campaign.
On Tuesday, employees at McDonald's in at least 10 cities, including Chicago and St. Louis will strike for one day to protest sexual harassment allegations against them. Fight for $15, a workers' rights group, wrote on Friday that employees would "demand McDonald's stop wasting their time and listen to employees when it comes to fixing rampant sex harassment in their stores."
Following a surge in protests over poor working conditions, toxic culture, and low wages in recent months, the McDonald's strike was triggered by a number of workers suing a variety of companies, including John Deere and Netflix. The ongoing pandemic, labor shortages and supply chain issues have further exacerbated the fight for workers' rights, making it more difficult to retain employees.
USA Today reports that Fight for $15 organized the strike as a direct response in the case of the alleged rape by a McDonald's manager in Pittsburgh of a 14 year-old McDonald's worker.
This effort comes amid harassment claims at other McDonald's restaurants. In September, a lawsuit was filed against a McDonald's franchisee for failing to adequately address harassment complaints from multiple teens in 22 locations across California, Nevada and Arizona.
According to Jamelia Fairley, a McDonald's employee from Sanford, Florida, "I'm striking because McDonald's refuses to accept responsibility for the harassment of countless teenagers and women on the job at its shops across the globe despite years worth of protests," Jamelia Fairley told The Hill.
Jennifer Berry, a former worker at Milwaukee McDonald's, wrote in a Fight for $15 Facebook post that "It's unsafe to work at McDonald's." It's our right that we feel safe in our jobs. It's our right to work in a company that cares about its employees.
McDonald's was also affected by the #MeToo movement. The September 2018 strike by workers at McDonald's was the first in America to be organized in a single day.
According to The Associated Press, workers have been involved in multiple strikes against sexual harassment at the company. At least 50 workers have filed charges against the company since 2016, as of April 2021. Workers were able to cite verbal and physical harassment as well as retaliation for making complaints.
McDonald's announced in April that mandatory training will be offered to over 2 million employees in 39,000 restaurants around the globe. The training will focus on preventing harassment, discrimination and violence.
"Everyone working in a McDonald's should feel safe and respected at work. Sexual harassment and assault are not allowed in any McDonald's," McDonald's US stated in a statement to USA Today. We know that more work is required to achieve our workplace ambitions. That is why all 40,000 McDonald's locations will be evaluated and held accountable to the global brand standards.
McDonald's has not yet responded to a request for comment on the impending strike or how it is dealing with these concerns.
