McDonad’s staff members in New York walked out Friday after the air conditioning broke down during a heat wave.
The heat index reached 107 degrees that day and the employees couldn’t stand it anymore. They were becoming physically sick, so they decided to walk out.
Many lawmakers in the state supported the employees including Senator Adriano Espaillat. “The workers were working under inhumane conditions, the temperature was as high as 120 degrees by the ovens,” he said.
Employee Jamne Izquierdo thought that it was unbearable to work in McDonald’s that day.
“In the middle of a heat wave like this, to be expected to stand in a hot kitchen with no air conditioning is inhumane and unsafe,” Izquierdo said. “We are human beings. We’ve told McDonalds before that the air conditioning doesn’t work and that we can’t take the heat but they don’t listen to us. We can’t take it anymore. No one should have to work like this.”
Luisa Villa, who has been working at McDonald’s for nine years, said that the air conditioning has broken several times since she started working there.
“The owners of the store make fun of us because they think we’re animals,” Villa said. “We’re not animals. We’re people. We don’t want to die and you can certainly die from the heat, you know.”
McDonald’s spokesman Bruce Colley said that the franchise apologized for any discomfort employees felt that day.
“We take the well being of our employees and customers very seriously and apologize for any inconvenience and discomfort they may have experienced,” he said. “We are working hard to make sure that this does not happen again.”
What do you think of the Mcdonald’s walkout in New York? If you were an employee there, would you have walked out?
[Image via Shuttershock ]