Fast food workers in Westchester walked off the job Friday, demanding that their companies do a better job of protecting them from violent and dangerous customers.
Dozens of employees from various fast food chains gathered and walked through a strip mall and into a Subway sandwich shop, where one of the protestors was threatened recently by a man with a machete.
“We need to stop the violence,” said Subway employee Sabina Gutierrez to KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell. “We have violence in this location.”
Gutierrez says she’s afraid to return to work at the sandwich shop after the incident. She marched with the protestors who entered the Subway where she is an employee.
“We don’t have no protection,” Gutierrez said. “We don’t have training.”
Jaylene Lubet works at a local McDonald’s. She says a customer recently pulled a knife on another restaurantgoer in front of her, prompting her to fear for her safety.
“We want to be able to work, get our pay, and feel safe in our environment,” Lubet said. “And then be able to go home to our families.”
-
Fast food workers from various chains walked off the job demanding better protection from dangerous and violent customers on Mar. 1, 2024. (KTLA) -
Fast food workers walked off the job and made signs demanding their employers do a better job of protecting them from violent and dangerous customers on Mar. 1, 2024. (KTLA)
KTLA has reached out to Subway for a comment on the workers’ demands, but has not received a response.
Members of the California Fast Food Workers Union are demanding that L.A. City leaders implement a protection plan that would force fast food restaurant owners to provide security and training on how to handle dangerous customers.
A report by the UCLA Labor Center in January 2022 found that Los Angeles County fast food workers faced “disproportionately high rates of injury, workplace violence, harassment, retaliation and wage theft.”
Read the full article here
Discussion about this post