CHICAGO — The National Labor Relations Board issued 13 complaints today against McDonald’s and some of its franchisees, calling them “joint employers” and alleging they violated labor rights of employees at various restaurants nationwide.
The labor board found merit in 86 cases filed in 13 cities including Chicago, New York and San Francisco. The cases allege McDonald’s and its franchisees retaliated against employees for “engaging in activities aimed at improving their wages and working conditions.”
Those activities included nationwide protests aimed at increasing wages and improving working conditions at the fast-food restaurants.
“While representatives of the Office of the General Counsel have been engaged in efforts to settle the matter with the parties, thus far, those efforts have largely been unsuccessful,” the NLRB said in a statement.
In a statement, McDonald’s said it is disappointed with the board’s decision and will contest the joint-employer allegation and the unfair labor practice charges.
“The National Labor Relations Board’s actions today improperly and dramatically strike at the heart of the franchise system — a system that creates economic opportunity, jobs and income for thousands of business owners and their employees across the country.”
McDonald’s has long maintained that its franchisees are independent owner-operators who set their own policies, including wages, while adhering to corporate standards in areas such as food preparation and restaurant design.
“This relationship does not establish a joint employer relationship under the law — and decades of case law support that principle,” the company said.
Business groups said the NLRB’s decision brings uncertainty to business owners and investors as it could affect a range of employers beyond McDonald’s.
“This is the nightmare before Christmas,” said Robert Cresanti, executive vice president of government relations and public policy at the International Franchise Association.
The labor group heralded the decision.
“McDonald’s exerts such extensive control over its franchised business operations that, for all intents and purposes, McDonald’s is the boss,” Kendall Fells, organizing director of the Fight for $15, said on a conference call. “It’s obvious that the company should share responsibility with franchisees for the treatment of its workers.”
Roughly 90 percent of McDonald’s U.S. restaurants are owned by franchisees. McDonald’s workers have filed more than 290 cases with the NLRB since November 2012, when organized protests against the fast-food industry began in New York.
Today, the NLRB said that in addition to the 86 cases that have merit, 11 have been resolved and 71 remain under investigation. Others have been dismissed.
The NLRB said forms of retaliation included, threats, surveillance, reduction of hours, interrogations and firings.
The employees belong to the so-called Fight for 15 movement, which aims to raise wages at fast-food restaurants to $15 an hour. McDonald’s has been the main target of the campaign, but unfair labor practice charges have also been filed against other restaurants including Burger King. Organizers, backed by the Service Employees International Union, also hope to create a fast-food workers’ union.
The agency has scheduled hearings in Manhattan, Chicago and Los Angeles to “address the violations that require remedial relief as soon as possible.” If a settlement is not reached, initial litigation will begin on March 30.
First Published December 19, 2014, 11:22 p.m.
