Workers Protest Burn Injuries At McDonald’s
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Local McDonald’s workers protest for better safety measures amid national concern for widespread burn incidents.
Protesters gathered outside the McDonald’s on Freedom drive today, one day after the filing of 28 complaints nationally regarding health and safety hazards, specifically burns, in McDonald’s stores.
Workers say that most of the stores lack basic first aid or protective gear to ensure their safety and that managers suggest using condiments like mustard to treat burns. They also cite a lack of staffing and pressure to work faster as the primary causes of burns on the job.
Workers have launched a petition nationwide calling for the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate widespread health and safety hazards facing workers throughout the fast-food industry. As many as 79% of fast-food workers across the country report that they have been burned on the job in the past year, often repeatedly, according to the first-ever health and safety survey of fast-food workers, released Monday by the National Coalition for Occupational Health and Safety.
