In what appears to be an egregious lack of moral judgment by a McDonald's franchise in Pennsylvania, a group of 15 former workers are protesting the restaurant chain, claiming unethical work practices.
Jorge Rios, 27, paid over $3000 to come to America from his native Argentina this past winter as part of a student work exchange program. He was not alone. There were over 8300 people like him, many with similar visa fees.
He was promised steady work to pay off the expenses of travel and living, enough so that he may break even and be able to experience America for a few months. He could not have imagined what he, and 14 others like him, received instead as soon as they landed.
"We had terrible working and housing conditions," says Rios, "We faced threats, stolen wages, and grease burns up and down our arms ... we were only used to enrich our employer."
As if such a job environment wasn't bad enough, Rios and his work-exchange co-workers couldn't even just put in their 40 hours and forget about it. They were on call 24 hours a day, given a mere 30 minutes to respond and get to their shift. And if for some reason they couldn't make it?
"If we ever answered that we couldn't work a shift - if someone was sick or exhausted when they got a call at 4 in the morning - the managers retaliated by giving us even fewer hours," Rios continues.
But it doesn't stop there. The student workers were also required to live in basement apartments owned by their employer at McDonald's. The living conditions, as you might have guessed, were far from hospitable.
"Our employer charged us $300 each per month to live in basement apartments he owned," Rios writes. "As many as eight of us lived in a single basement, we slept on bunk beds made for children that shook and squeaked."
Rios and his fellow coworkers and finally taking a stand and demanding action from the CEO of McDonald's. They have held protests in Pennsylvania and are soon to do the same in New York City. The student exchange workers are asking for the money they used to get here, unpaid overtime, and housing overcharges.
McDonald's has said that they are investigating the claims.
