Dear John:
News broke this week of a Chipotle restaurant in Washington Heights where workers have been fending off a rat infestation.
The company ignored employee reports about the rats for weeks -- until rats bit multiple crew members and the location’s manager
One worker told the New York Post: “This whole thing made me realize that these companies really don’t value people, they just want you to work no matter what. As long as they’re making money, they don’t really care what else happens.”
Contrast that with DoorDash, the behemoth delivery company, opening on Wall Street to high stock prices while underpaying its workers, misclassifying them as independent contractors, and not offering them a single day of paid sick leave.
The rat infestation is a public health catastrophe on top of a public health crisis, but workers who cannot afford to lose their jobs in the midst of a recession face huge barriers to fighting back against this outrage.
Most of these workers don’t have just-cause protections, which means they have absolutely no recourse if they are fired. One survey found that 65% of fast food workers who lost their job were fired without a reason, for as little as “not smiling.”
And, as we learned earlier this year, many health care workers don’t have these protections either -- as nurses and doctors risked their jobs to expose dangerous conditions in hospitals.
The virus continues to spread alarmingly, and our reliance on health care workers, delivery workers, grocery workers, food service workers and many others who are keeping our city fed, supplied, and cared for is only growing. It’s long past time we give these workers the workplace protections they need and deserve.
Thank you so much for your support, resilience, and activism,
-- Brad
Lander for NYC
456 5th Avenue
Third Floor
Suite 2
Brooklyn, NY 11215
United States
[email protected]
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