Fight for $15

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John,

Five to six workers, standing elbow-to-elbow in a hot kitchen.

No temperature checks at the start of my shift.

No disinfection of drive-thru headsets and other high-touch surfaces.

I see no respect from McDonald's for employees like me -- they aren't protecting us from COVID-19. That's why my coworkers and I walked off the job on December 4th.

The case count at this McDonald's stands at twenty cases of COVID-19, including eight workers and twelve family members, with sixteen confirmed and four suspected cases. I have filed two health and safety complaints detailing violations of even the most basic safety guidelines. And still, McDonald's does nothing.

This week, I returned to work from my strike so I can do my job but also continue to fight for better protections in my workplace. To turn the pressure up on McDonald's, I need your help.

Help me expose the dangers workers like me face each and every day. Share my story to help us hold McDonald's accountable and make our demands impossible to ignore. [[link removed]]

Though McDonald's has put out flashy press statements saying they're protecting workers and customers, I know that's not the case. They continue to exploit us and put our lives on the line while raking in record profits and paying out millions of dollars in dividends to their shareholders.

When we raised the following concerns to my manager at McDonald's they said: "If you don't want to work you can go home, but you won't get paid."

- When 3 of my coworkers tested positive for COVID earlier this year, none of us were notified. I had sat across from one of them as we took lunch breaks just days before they left work for months and instantly feared for my high-risk family member at home.
- When I told my manager I feared exposure to the virus, they told me that I could get tested if I wanted to, but if I was positive and couldn't work, I wouldn't get quarantine pay. My family depends on my paycheck and I couldn't afford to stay home.
- There's no way to social distance in the kitchen, or when working the drive-thru. Usually 5-6 of us are crowded together, for 5-8 hour shifts, multiple days of the week.
- Worker temperatures or symptoms are not screened.
- Despite what we know about COVID transmission, headsets are not sanitized in between shifts, and management does not enforce regular cleaning of high-touch surfaces.

We've been risking our lives on the front lines so we went on STRIKE. McDonald's needs to do more to protect workers like me. Share if you agree >> [[link removed]]

We've taken matters into our own hands by filing a complaint and going on STRIKE. Workers like me need union rights. We're underpaid, exploited, and tired of risking our lives for an employer who doesn't respect us.

It's up to us to FIGHT.

Margarita Castillejo
McDonald's Worker
Littlerock, CA
Fight for $15 and a Union

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