Progressive Politics

1250 readers

521 users here now

Welcome to Progressive Politics! A place for news updates and political discussion from a left perspective. Conservatives and centrists are welcome just try and keep it civil :)

(Sidebar still a work in progress post recommendations if you have them such as reading lists)

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

TokenBoomer

160

Caught Employing Slaves, McDonald’s Promises to Do Better (jacobin.com)

submitted 3 months ago by TokenBoomer to c/progressivepolitics

28 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The dire conditions of fast-food work cause enormous staff turnover, which puts franchisees in a constant search for desperate workers. It’s no wonder that one McDonald’s in England failed to notice that it was employing victims of human trafficking.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

Wow, I assumed this was related to the use of prison labor in Alabama. I guess McDonald's has a long ways to go before they get to "better".

According to the suit, C.B.A.K., a McDonald’s franchisee, employed at least 122 incarcerated workers between 2018 (the beginning of the period covered by the suit) and September 2023. C.B.A.K. workers allegedly were coerced to work for the company. The suit alleges that violent and unsafe conditions within the Alabama prison system, in addition to the ADOC’s prohibition of work stoppages, effectively coerced workers into accepting employment.

One McDonald’s worker, who asked for time off for mental health, was told “any failure to work, even for health reasons, will be considered a refusal to work and will result in a disciplinary offense,” per the suit.

At least one worker at an Alabama Kentucky Fried Chicken was denied parole after refusing to work due to a low wage rate that was subject to deductions by prison officials...The DOC’s system of deductions meant workers nominally paid Alabama’s $7.25 minimum wage earned, in effect, as little “$2.06 per hour.”