The harsh reality of fast food work behind Trump’s McDonald’s moment

Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump poses for a photo at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania on October 20. a major battlefield situation Both he and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, have been trying to win support from voters in the final weeks before Election Day on Nov. 5. Trump appeared to be making fries and serving them to customers coming through the drive-thru window.

“This is so much fun, I could do this all day” Trump said after giving a bag to the customer. “I wouldn’t mind this.”

There are approx. 3.6 million fast food workers in the USA., they earn an average of $30,110 per year. Many took to social media to express their disappointment with Trump’s costuming of the work of millions of Americans.

Trump answered questions from the press at the drive-thru window, but did not say whether he would support increasing the federal minimum wage when asked. On Tuesday, Harris said for the first time she would support raising the minimum wage to $15.

According to HuffPostHarris also said during the 2020 presidential campaign that she supports a $15 federal minimum wage.

“It’s at least $15 an hour, but we’ll work with Congress, right? “This is something that passed through Congress,” he said. Harris said.

According to the US Department of Labor, federal minimum wage It has remained at $7.25 per hour since 2009.

Like I think it was reported Earlier this week, myths about who works fast food jobs portrayed the industry as an after-school job for young people working part-time. However, published data National Employment Law Project It reveals that 70% of fast food workers are aged 20 or over, with less than a third aged between 16 and 19 in 2021.

Employees say their jobs require more than just “flipping burgers,” instead they have to balance multiple tasks and provide customer service while managing, often at low wages poor working conditions and we operate in places where staff is inadequate.

“Why do so many people choose to put up with this? Because some choices are not actually choices. Emily Guendelsbergera journalist and former fast food employee, wrote at Vox In 2019. “In my experience, most people are willing to make huge sacrifices to keep their children safe and happy. In a country with a trustworthy social safety net, employment-related health care, and little job quality difference between working at McDonald’s, Burger King, or Walmart, companies have long since realized that workers will put up with just about anything. It means keeping their jobs.”

California nonprofit’s 2023 report Economic Round Table The fast food industry has the largest proportion of workers living in poverty, which researchers found is due to low wages and difficulty making full-time hours. In California alone, 1 in 17 homeless people work in the fast food industry. according to the report.

Cyann PetersenThe 22-year-old is a Sonic drive-in host in Oklahoma and earns $7.75 an hour. He usually works 36 hours a week, but his hours were recently reduced after he took two weeks off for emergency surgery. Since then he has been working only 16 hours a week.

“I went from 36 hours a week to 16 hours a week and I’m not getting paid enough because it’s on filming. It’s not really like that. There was no way. I have stepchildren and they (managers) still couldn’t understand what was going on,” she told Reckon.

Petersen’s daily duties include preparing orders, taking payments and delivering food to customers. While his location holds clues, he says it’s not much.

“If it’s on a coupon day or a promotion day, I get a maximum of $9 that day,” he said. Petersen said he understands that customers are trying to save money and maybe don’t have extra money to give, but it’s setting him back financially.

“I can’t survive on this. I really can’t,” he said.

Physical and emotional abuse in the workplace

“Rising”Karen” stereotype has become a household meme, depicting (usually) white, middle-aged women as entitled and racist, often in fits of rage. These viral videos gained popularity in 2020 During the COVID-19 pandemicand often verbally and sometimes descriptively

But Karen-like behavior is more than a meme, with fast food workers getting angry outbursts from customers in the real world. A 2021 study by restaurant industry analysis firm Black Box Intelligence found that: 60 percent of restaurant workers have been emotionally abused and that year they had experienced disrespect from customers, with 78% reporting it had affected their mental health.

In November 2021, McDonald’s workers in California hosted a strike against unsafe working conditions. Jasmina Alfaro, who works at McDonald’s in Los Angeles he told the Los Angeles Daily News about the violence he faced at work.

“We were robbed, beaten, bitten and threatened at gunpoint just for trying to do our job,” Alfaro said. “Management provided a security solution only after we staged a protest in our store. But that’s not enough.”

Petersen said her underage co-worker recently had to file a lawsuit against an intoxicated male customer who harassed her.

“It is not an ordinary situation that we encounter a strange person, but maybe it happens every two months,” he said, adding that everyone in the industry encounters similar situations.

He told Reckon he encourages people to be kind to his employees because “you never know what they’re going through.”

“A customer has apologized to me several times for being rude because I ‘killed them with kindness,’ and I always forgive them because we all have our days and I completely understand that,” Petersen said. “Most people don’t apologize these days, which makes it even worse.”

Unions, protests and legal protection for fast food workers

As reports of workplace violence and wage theft increased, fast food workers began organizing for change. Their efforts led to significant victories, especially in California, where new laws are reshaping the industry.

The rise in violence against employees has prompted a movement to impose legal protections to ensure their safety, with California at the epicenter of this fight.

During the pandemic, fast food workers in Los Angeles County faced greater risk of contracting COVID-19, faced increased challenges to their working conditions and did not receive the protections they deserve, according to a 2022 report. UCLA Study Center.

Half of the fast food workers surveyed in the report reported being subjected to verbal harassment, and a third reported being threatened, racially insulted or attacked. Additionally, almost two-thirds of workers have experienced wage theft and more than half have faced health and safety hazards at work, with 43% injured. wage theft It occurs when employers withhold earnings such as compensation or breaks.

“Fast-food workers have shown up every day of the COVID-19 pandemic, risking our lives to keep our stores open and feed our communities.” Los Angeles McDonald’s employee Angelica Hernandez told UCLA:. “The companies we work for have labeled us essential, but this report shows that they think we are disposable and have decided that keeping us in unsafe and unhealthy conditions is worth it for higher corporate profits.”

In response to years of unfair conditions, Industry began to unionize. In February, California fast food workers form first-of-its-kind minority union hundreds of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Jack in the Box, Carl’s Jr. and represents Subway employees. California Fast Food Workers Union He lists his goals as increasing the minimum wage by 3.5% over the next three years and creating rules that ensure workers have enough working hours to support themselves.

In September 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law Increasing the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 per hour and Fast Food Council Workers have a say in determining working conditions policies and health and safety standards.

A year later, the governor’s office reported that there were more fast food jobs in the state than ever before, including 11,000 new jobs created in the four months after signing the bill.

“What’s good for workers is good for business, and as California’s fast food industry continues to grow rapidly each month, our workers are finally getting the wages they deserve. Despite those lying about how this will devastate the industry, California’s economy and workers are once again proving them wrong,” Newsom said. August 2024 declaration.

Those opposed to the increases warned that the increased fee would be passed on to customers.

“Every day you see headlines about restaurant closures, employee job losses, reduced working hours and increased food prices for consumers,” said an International Franchise Association spokesperson. he told the socialist magazine Jacobin a few months after it came into force.

A report prepared by Harvard University Published October 9 It found that raising the minimum wage in California did not lead to unintended consequences on staffing, scheduling, or wage theft, and Center for Wage and Employment Dynamics at UC Berkeley found that menu prices increased by only 3% to 7%, the equivalent of 15 cents off a $4 burger.

Starbucks employees also struggled to unionize across the country. According to the website, Starbucks Workers United Since its first store in Buffalo, New York, it now represents 500 stores and more than 10,500 employees. Voted to unionize in 2021.

According to CNBCThe latest store to unionize, located in Bellingham, Washington, recently sent a letter to the company’s new CEO: Brian NiccolThey explained their reasons for organizing.

“Starbucks’ ultimate success in restructuring depends on whether we baristas have the support we need to do our jobs well so we can ensure customers enjoy the Starbucks experience and keep coming back.” they wrote.