After two years without a contract, unionized Chipotle workers call for nationwide boycott
After two years without a contract, unionized Chipotle workers call for nationwide boycott
Back in 2022 amid the broader resurgence of the union movement, a group of Gen Z employees in Michigan seized the moment and became the nation’s first and only unionized Chipotle within the fast-food chain.
They are asking for a $2 annual raise, consistent work schedules and a fully-staffed restaurant. Now, two years later, these restaurant employees remain without an agreement.
So, they are calling for a nationwide boycott of the restaurant’s 3,400 locations unless they get a contract.
Atulya Dora-Laskey has been leading the store’s unionization efforts since the beginning. Today, she said low wages and insufficient hours are still a problem.
“Chipotle can jerk your schedule back and forth, and there’s really nothing you can do about it,” Dora-Laskey said. “So you could go from having 25+ hours one week to less than 10 the next week.”
In August, the National Labor Relations Board found that Chipotle violated labor law for allegedly telling employees it couldn’t provide raises because they were unionized.
Chipotle does tend to pay its workers above minimum wage. Anisa Smith was hired in October for $13.25 an hour — almost $3 more than Michigan’s minimum wage. She said she agreed with her manager that she could work Monday through Thursday while her daughter is at school.
“They say now they don’t need me from Monday to Thursdays anymore, but it’s like, well, I need the hours,” she said.
Now, Smith said she’s being asked to work weekends. “How would I ever be able to cover for a babysitter on the weekends, even if I’m working two days out of the week?”
Chipotle officials have said they are committed to bargaining in good faith but that the union wouldn’t meet with them from March til August of this year.
“We respect our employees’ rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act and are committed to ensuring a fair, just and humane work environment that provides opportunities to all,” said Chipotle Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Laurie Schalow. “We continue to bargain in good faith on the first union agreement at our Saginaw Highway restaurant in Lansing, Michigan and we believe progress is being made.”
Schalow chose not to comment on specific worker concerns about scheduling and understaffing.
Still, worker Mauricio Zavala said organizing has already created some change at Chipotle. For example, the restaurant will soon allow tips from online orders. It’s changes like that that keep him working there, he said.
“I think that’s a beautiful thing being a part of this union is because of that it’s like all for one and one for all,” he said. Chipotle told stakeholders in its latest annual report that successful labor union efforts could adversely affect business. The Michigan Chipotle bargaining team is expected to meet with restaurant representatives next week.
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