This week’s episode: A transfer of power

As the nation swears in President Joe Biden, we look at the long shadow cast by the forces that brought Donald Trump to power.

How fast food chains failed to protect workers from COVID-19 

McDonald’s is the nation’s largest fast food restaurant chain and has claimed that it’s an industry leader when it comes to COVID-19 precautions. But complaints filed by McDonald’s employees in 37 states tell a different story. In his new investigation, reporter Lance Williams found complaints that workers were left without masks, with no time to wash their hands and with no way to social distance in crowded kitchens. At one outlet, workers said there weren’t enough masks, so managers told them to improvise, offering up a box of dog diapers somebody had left at the store.

California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, introduced a bill this month that aims to crack down on fast food companies that flout COVID-19 safety guidelines. 

Can you tell me a little bit about the data behind this story? 

Lance Williams: Yeah, the data we obtained for this story was a set of about 1,600 complaints filed around the country to OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) offices concerning COVID in workplaces. We wound up focusing on McDonald's because they're the dominant player in fast food America. They also had the most complaints, as you'd expect. Their percentage of complaints was around 20%, which is equal to their market share.

What did you do once you had that complaint data? 

Williams: I started fishing around for other data sources. It turned out that in Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon, the state health departments publish data on COVID in workplaces. Many states didn't. So we used those. We also had some lawsuits. And then finally, there were news accounts around the country. Especially in small towns, if the local McDonald's closes for COVID, that gets a story in the paper. So that was yet another data source. 

But you really felt you're looking through a glass darkly, as they say in literature. I interviewed a franchise holder in Tampa, Florida, who owns a couple dozen McDonald’s. In passing, he said that he had 100 people who had worked for him get COVID. None of that was reflected in any complaints I saw.

Are there any interesting details or observations that didn't make it into the story? 

Williams: I was struck by just how dedicated employees these folks were. Despite everything, they seem to work really hard and want to work. Workers did a strike at this McDonald's on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, California, in October. They rolled in there and used their cars to block the drive-thru lanes and then give speeches and stuff. But meanwhile, they had their kids paint on the asphalt and what they painted, in Spanish, said, “We want more hours to work.” After all this: “We want more hours.”

Read the story: Not lovin’ it 
 

By the Numbers: Fast food and COVID-19  

• McDonald’s is the nation’s largest fast food restaurant chain with 14,000 stores around the country. 

• When Service Employees International Union officials surveyed McDonald’s workers in April, more than 90% of respondents said they had trouble getting masks, and 1 in 5 reported working while sick, either because they lacked paid sick leave or were afraid of being penalized for not showing up. 

• On-site investigations of fast food restaurants’ COVID-19 measures have been rare. According to OSHA records, in response to 1,600 COVID-19 complaints, inspectors have visited only 56 fast food outlets. 

Read the story: Not lovin’ it
 

On Jan. 1, we wrapped up our annual membership campaign – the most important fundraising effort of the year. For those of you who were able to make a donation, thank you. We are deeply grateful for your generosity. 

In the Field 

Reporting on White supremacy in Washington, D.C. 

This week’s radio show reports on the ground from the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, but it expands the conversation to include two longtime D.C. residents who reflect on the insurrection. Reporter Anjali Kamat talks with D.C. native Arianna Evans, an Army veteran who participated in Black Lives Matter protests in the city over the summer.

She was struck by the profound difference between the way police treated Black Lives Matter protesters compared with the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. “I couldn't help but think about the time that we did protest at the Capitol, and we got tear-gassed and pepper sprayed. I couldn't help but think about the time that I was leaving a protest, and I got arrested by five police officers and I had done nothing wrong. And they all kneeled on my back and bruised my ribs,” Evans said. “But yet, all of those White people left. They went home. We don't get that luxury. After really understanding that this country only really uses force against you when you're fighting against White supremacy and not upholding it, that is when everything for me changed.” 

Listen to the episode: A transfer of power
 

Reveal Recommends 

Michael I Schiller is a senior reporter and producer at Reveal. He produces radio and video stories and makes nonfiction animations, documentary films and multimedia reporting packages. 

Listening: Ear Hustle podcast! Solid radio journalism, fascinating stories, with great hosts who help to humanize the prison experience while bringing attention to mass incarceration, but never in a preachy way. 

Reading: “The Tao of Wu,” by The RZA. The memoir is a journey of self-transformation. It's also a behind-the-scenes look at an influential 1990s hip-hop crew and tells the story of how a group of friends overcame poverty and their cruel lot in life, using music and poetry, upending the industry and making some really great records in the process.

Watching: “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” It reminds me of the old pre-pandemic days when you'd go get coffee and food with people and have a few laughs, only it's a hyped-up version, with classic cars and the most delicious-looking coffee, in the most vibey of coffee shops. Kudos, Seinfeld, another great show about nothing. 

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