Fired Workers Demand Justice from Taco Bell
As Union Labor News goes to print, the Workers’ Rights Center reports that the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission is attempting to broker an agreement with Taco Bell that could return fired workers to their jobs, at least temporarily. The EEOC’s investigation of workers’ claims of discrimination by Taco Bell, however, is expected to be ongoing, said WRC Director Patrick Hickey. – ed.
By David Johansen, Union Labor News Contributor
Without giving workers any chance to refute questions of worker status, twenty-eight Latino workers were fired March 24 by six corporately owned Taco Bells in Madison.
The workers – with tenure ranging from 4 to 13 years – are fighting back against the Taco Bell firings with a barrage of activities to publicize their cause as they seek a resolution.
Nineteen Taco Bell workers with assistance from the Workers’ Rights Center have filed a discrimination complaint with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC).
The guts of the EEOC complaint include an array of discriminatory treatment the workers suffered at the hands of Taco Bell management.
For starters, on the morning of March 24, Taco Bell workers were fired with no notice or opportunity to respond. Taco Bell management made claims of worker status issues as the basis for the firings while using Social Security Administration (SSA) “no match” letters to make its case.
However, according to the SSA, there are many reasons why a worker’s name might not match the social security number in the SSA database (clerical errors, name changes due to marriage or divorce, or incomplete information on a W-4 or W-2 form). But the SSA is clear in requiring employers to give employees time to fix those problems.
Even before the firings occurred, workers pointed out in a May 14 meeting with local clergy, they suffered discriminatory treatment compared to non-Latino coworkers, including: harder work assignments, fewer training opportunities, fewer breaks, lower wages, and rules against speaking Spanish to customers. Prior to being fired, workers were forced to train their replacements.
At a May 26 rally in front of the Park Street Taco Bell, fifty workers and supporters chanted “no queiro Taco Bell,” as they marched with picket signs in front of the restaurant.
“This is unfair to me and my coworkers. We each have children to support, and bills and rent to pay,” said one worker, adding that Latino workers were regularly treated differently on the job.
“I believe they used us and now that they have new workers they’ve gotten rid of us,” said another of the fired workers who had worked at Taco Bell for six years.
The workers were called in one by one, told they were being fired and sent out the back door, she said. “We supported this business for a long time and that is how they thank us.”
Expressing solidarity among union members, Jim Cavanaugh, president of the South Central Federation of Labor, told the crowd “an injury to one is an injury to all.” He continued “We will let union members in this area know what Taco Bell has done and we will continue to tell them until these workers get their jobs back and get some justice.”
Rabbi Renee Bauer, director of the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice, said to the rally participants “we’re here because it is wrong to treat one class of workers differently than another. The most repeated commandment in the Bible, one shared by many faiths, is to not oppress the stranger among us; do not oppress those who come from other lands.”
Since the firings occurred, local clergy have added their names to a letter written by the Interfaith Coalition to Taco Bell in which they ask them to resolve this situation in a just manner. The Interfaith Coalition is also asking local churches to invite Taco Bell workers to speak to their congregations.
More Street Heat
On June 10, Taco Bell workers took their dispute to the sidewalks of two Taco Bell restaurants in Madison, picketing and handing out flyers to customers.
Standing outside the Taco Bell on Mineral Point Road, a former Taco Bell worker told Union Labor News issues of “justice” and “dignity” are what drive his involvement in the campaign. Feeling betrayed by his employer of ten years, he said, “I don’t know if I’d go back, but I’ll continue to fight.”
Those issues of justice and dignity are keeping many of the Taco Bell workers actively engaged in the struggle, according to Patrick Hickey, director of the Workers’ Rights Center, an advocacy organization supporting the Taco Bell workers. “The morale at our meetings continues to be very good,” Hickey said, “and workers are coming up with great new ideas for continuing our fight against Taco Bell.”
One idea in the works, Hickey said, is for the Taco Bell workers to begin contacting other Workers’ Centers across the country and request they contact Taco Bell “asking them to reverse their misguided policy.”
Hickey said the Taco Bell workers, the Workers’ Rights Center, and the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice will continue to press Taco Bell until a just resolution is reached.
– David Johansen is a social worker who lives and works in Madison, WI. Inspired by the struggle of P-9/Hormel Packinghouse workers in Austin, Minnesota in the mid-1980's, Johansen worked with the Twin Cities Support Committee for Local P-9. He plans to be a regular volunteer contributor for Union Labor News.