Workers at a New York City McDonald's branch say they walked off the job on Friday because the air conditioning is broken.
Workers at the Washington Heights store say they became physically sick from the heat after the air-conditioning broke down on Friday morning. The heat index hit 107 degrees at JFK Airport on Friday.
It was the hottest day of a brutal heat wave that's expected to end on Saturday.
Employee Jamne Izquierdo says the conditions were "inhumane and unsafe."
"We are human beings. We've told McDonalds before that the air conditioning doesn't work and that we can't take the heat but they don't listen to us. We can't take it anymore. No one should have to work like this," said Izquierdo.
Workers started walking off of the job in the morning and started protesting outside. Some fast-food employees in the city have been trying to unionize. In April, workers walked off of the job at several fast-food locations in New York to press for $15 an hour salaries. Workers also held a work stoppage in Nov. 2012. McDonald's issued a statement after that incident saying that it values its employees and remains committed to them.
Organized labor has been supporting the efforts. In fact, in Friday's incident, a public relations firm sent a photo to media outlets showing one of the workers being taken out of the store by EMS workers.
Read Full Article
Workers at the Washington Heights store say they became physically sick from the heat after the air-conditioning broke down on Friday morning. The heat index hit 107 degrees at JFK Airport on Friday.
It was the hottest day of a brutal heat wave that's expected to end on Saturday.
Employee Jamne Izquierdo says the conditions were "inhumane and unsafe."
"We are human beings. We've told McDonalds before that the air conditioning doesn't work and that we can't take the heat but they don't listen to us. We can't take it anymore. No one should have to work like this," said Izquierdo.
Workers started walking off of the job in the morning and started protesting outside. Some fast-food employees in the city have been trying to unionize. In April, workers walked off of the job at several fast-food locations in New York to press for $15 an hour salaries. Workers also held a work stoppage in Nov. 2012. McDonald's issued a statement after that incident saying that it values its employees and remains committed to them.
Organized labor has been supporting the efforts. In fact, in Friday's incident, a public relations firm sent a photo to media outlets showing one of the workers being taken out of the store by EMS workers.
Read Full Article