Durham McDonald’s Workers Demand Safe Work Conditions Following Workplace Injury
“NC Raise Up Members Declare ‘McDonald’s to McDougald—We Demand to be Safe!‘”
Durham, NC – A McDonald’s worker walked off the job this afternoon (January 23) and joined a chanting crowd of fast food and other low wage workers, to call attention to dangerous working conditions inside McDonald’s stores. NC Raise Up, the Durham-based branch of the Fight for $15 and a Union, organized the speakout at McDonald’s Morgan Street store in Durham, as part of an ongoing, worker-led campaign calling on McDonald’s to protect workers’ safety, address rampant sexual harassment, pay workers $15 per hour, and recognize workers’ right to come together in a union.
Tyreek Harton, a 20-year-old McDonald’s worker was seriously injured on the job when he cut his hand on sharp metal toaster which had previously injured other workers. Tyreek’s manager allowed him to wrap his bleeding hand in a paper towel and go back to work. McDonald’s management did not write an accident report. Days later, his arm swelled up with a serious infection. When he arrived at the emergency room, doctors told him that he arrived just in time—a few more hours and his arm would have had to be amputated. He was hospitalized for 3 days and returned to work this week.
“I watched my son lying in a hospital bed with IV’s in both arms. It was hard to see Tyreek’s life put in jeopardy because of McDonald’s greed,” said Keenan Harton, a fast-food worker and leader with the Fight for $15 and a Union. “This is why I’m fighting for union rights—not just for me and my son, but for all workers. We all need to be safe and protected on the job.”
Gathered on the sidewalk in front of McDonald’s golden arches, several former McDonald’s workers spoke into a megaphone and described being hurt on the job and denied proper medical care by management. 87% of fast-food workers have been hurt on the job and most have suffered multiple injuries.
Other local workers spoke about the harmful impact of McDonald’s poverty wages: housing insecurity. A fast-food worker and public housing resident carried a handmade sign reading, From McDonald’s to McDougald, we deserve to be safe at work and at home.
Dayosha Davis spoke about her past experience working full time at McDonald’s and living in McDougald Terrace with her two children, “It wasn’t the environment that I wanted to raise my family in, but McDonald’s poverty wages didn’t give me any other option. Workers like me shouldn’t have to depend on public assistance to survive when we are working hard for huge companies like McDonald’s.”
Thursday’s action comes on the heels of Working in Durham: A People’s Hearing, which highlighted the dangerous working conditions that workers experience at McDonald’s and other Durham employers.
PHOTOS: Courtesy of NC Raise Up