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Frontline QSR, pizza workers walk out over COVID-19 fears

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April 9, 2020

Today in California, workers at 30 different QSRs will stage a walk-out in an effort to force management at those stores to provide more safety protection against coronavirus. The workers planning to walk out today include non-union cooks and cashiers, and their job action follows several strikes that started this week at a Los Angeles McDonald's store where one employee tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.  

McDonald's told the newspaper there that it promises to make "important changes" in how its restaurants address health and safety during the coronavirus Company spokeswoman Lindsay Rainey told the Daily News that some of those changes include some of the actions QSRweb reported last week including, wellness checks at the start of shifts, gloves for crew members and more cleaning, social distancing and hand-washing requirements. In fact, the chain will also send non-medical grade masks to some stores. In respone to which locations would get masks, McDonald's said in a statement to QSRweb:

"We're continuously evolving our safety programs and modifying processes across the U.S. in order to help customers and restaurant employees feel safe. Our supply chain team is working tirelessly to secure critical supplies, such as non-medical grade masks. Masks are starting to arrive in franchisee and company owned restaurants with allocation going first to areas where the use of masks is required by law, to hotspots with a high level of confirmed cases in the community and then to the rest of the country. While we fulfill supply across the country, we are recommending the use of DIY mask solutions consistent with recent C.D.C. guidance."

Tuesday, nine Los Angeles Domino's employees at a store with a positive COVID-19 test of a crew member joined the protest, but today, hundreds of the state's workers at Burger King, Domino's El Pollo Loco, Pizza Hut, Subway, Taco Bell and WaBa Grill were expected to walk out, the paper said. 

In fact, such restaurant worker COVID-19-positive tests are becoming increasingly more frequent in the news, like an unnamed Wendy's location in the Bahamas who came in for work showing symptoms of the virus, according to the Bahamas Tribune. The employee was reportedly sent home, and several days later the nation's health ministry confirmed the employee had tested positive for COVID-19. 

In response to that case, Wendy's told the paper that they immediately told location employees and put them on a "mandatory 14-day leave to self-quarantine," while the store was sanitized and cleaned. That store reopened Monday.

In another report on Grub Street overnight, a Domino's worker, who was not identified by name, frankly discussed fears the employee had about working during the pandemic and interacting with the public. The individual also described conditions inside that particular store, detailing that precautions mandated were not being followed, as relayed in this harrowing part of the individual's testimonial on the publication:

"One of our drivers entered self-quarantine in mid-March, after a co-worker at another job tested positive for COVID-19. After he relayed to us that he was self-quarantining, I told my management staff that we needed to shut the store down for at least half a day to sanitize the whole place. Like, every inch of the store. That didn’t happen. There weren’t any additional steps taken after. Concern is too light of a word, knowing we’re serving hundreds of people a day and not taking necessary steps to prevent our customers from being potentially exposed. Especially during those two weeks, I could be taking food out to a customer, and who knows? We don’t know that this store is not contaminated. We’re delivering to older people, younger people, people who might be immuno-compromised. We couldn’t say for sure, and there aren’t any steps taken to make sure we’re being as safe as possible."

Grub Street said they contacted Domino's regarding some of the employee's fears. The report said that the Domino's responded as follows:

"All drivers and other hourly employees in our corporate stores are eligible for COVID-19 paid sick time and are also provided paid sick time for those situations in which someone is advised to isolate or self-quarantine for 14 days by their health care practitioner, public health authority, or the company […] We have been very forthright with our franchisees about the benefits we are offering to our corporate store teams. We know that many franchisees are providing a variety of benefits and other measures to support their store teams.

However, franchisees are independent business owners and we cannot dictate the compensation or benefits they offer their employees […] We encourage team members to stay home if they are sick — for their own safety and the safety of other team members and our customers. For our corporate stores, we have made COVID-19 paid sick time available as well as 14 days of quarantine pay."

Next week on the QSRweb podcast, two attorneys with the national law firm, Messner-Reeves, will provide insight into liability issues for restaurant brands, around their workers and customers, in the midst of the current pandemic. 

See more COVID-19 coverage on QSRweb, here.