Workers at McDonald's on I-95 Win Wage Settlement

This month, two former McDonald’s co-workers received settlement checks that vindicated their faith in fighting for better working conditions at the concessions in the Connecticut interstate service plaza system.

The negotiated agreement brings to a close a case at the National Labor Relations Board, in which the company running a McDonald’s in the Milford I-95 northbound plaza was charged by 32BJ SEIU with numerous violations of the National Labor Relations Act, including cutting the work hours of Azucena Santiago and Yadira Martinez in retaliation for supporting the union. In media interviews, protests, and legislative hearings, both women decried the low wages, lack of benefits, and managerial mistreatment at the McDonald’s operated by Goldenhawk LLC, a company owned by Connecticut fast food magnate Roger Facey.

For years, workers at many service plaza McDonald’s and other concessions have labored at or near the minimum wage, despite the Standard Wage Law guaranteeing better pay and benefits at businesses operating under a state contract. Many workers also reported losing their wages whenever they had to stay home sick, having never been told about the state’s paid sick leave law. The combination of low wages and a de facto lack of sick days often forced workers to come to work while feeling ill, a threat to everyone’s health that has turned potentially lethal during the pandemic.

Azucena Santiago summarized the situation in testimony before a General Assembly committee last year. “Many of us at the service plazas are parents with young children. None of us can depend on a regular schedule. We don’t have personal days. Our employers have never given us the right to take sick days. Some of us come to work when we have illnesses that can affect everyone. The pressure never stops.”

Even now, the mother of two preschoolers admits to having mixed feelings about the settlement. “In all honesty, I feel a little sad because I wish we didn’t have to undergo the stress of fighting for our basic rights – I wish that the bosses would just treat everyone right – and I know we have a long way to go. But at the same time, I also feel really glad, because the court vindicated our rights. Yadira and I lost our hours, but we won our demonstration.”

For a full year, Santiago scraped by with only one or two shifts a week, determined not to leave the job in order to win her rights. After the settlement, her schedule increased to about 35 hours a week. Yadira Martinez is now taking time off to tend to her newborn baby.

In addition to the financial payment, Roger Facey’s Goldenhawk also agreed to post a notice affirming the worker’s protected rights to “form, join or assist a union.”

“WE WILL NOT ask you about your support for the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ (the Union) or any other labor organization,” reads the posted notice, in part.

“Workers like us have to all keep fighting, however we can,” Yadira Martinez said. “We have to raise our voices, and never surrender our rights.”

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UPCOMING RALLIES

An Earth / Peace Day chalking event at the Amistad Statue in front of New Haven City Hall won Thursday April 22 at 4 pm will celebrate Earth Day, the Green New Deal, and the New Haven vote of 82% to transfer funds from the military budget to human needs, jobs and a sustainable economy. The ballot referendum read: ”Shall Congress prepare for health and climate crises by transferring funds from military budget to cities for human needs, jobs and an environmentally sustainable economy?” The family event has been coordinated by the City of New Haven Peace Commission, the New Haven Climate Movement, the Greater New Haven Peace Council and the Connecticut Climate Crisis Movement. A petition to the Connecticut Congressional Delegation can be signed here: <https://nhpeacecouncil.org/sign-petition-decrease-military-spending-save-jobs-fund-needs/>

The Recovery for All Coalition has a continuing series of protests and demonstrations underway across the state demanding of Governor Lamont that health care, labor department and other state workers be paid living wages and that the services they deliver be fully funded. House Bill 6187 and Senate Bill 821 would raise $3 million by requiring billionaires to pay the same rate in taxes as everyone else. Send a message in support here: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/recovery-for-all-bill

The Husky for Immigrants Coalition will rally on Friday, April 23 at Ferry and Grand Streets in New Haven followed by a march to New Haven City Hall in support of SB956, a bill that will expand access to HUSKY medicaid for all Connecticut residents regardless of their immigrant status and will also raise the federal poverty level for eligible applicants, bringing broader access to affordable healthcare for working class families all across Connecticut. More information: Facebook event