In solidarity with workers, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights Director Dr. Mary T. Bassett and Executive Director Natalia Linos co-signed an open letter urging McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski to adequately protect the safety of employees and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the letter, the experts point to “a pattern of severe shortcomings by McDonald’s,” including failure to provide adequate PPE and to inform workers when they are exposed and provide paid quarantine, among other issues.
“As the unmistakably largest and most profitable fast-food company in the world and as the second largest private-sector employer in the United States, McDonald’s is the standard setter in the industry,” the experts write. “What you choose to do matters.”
The letter calls on McDonald’s to swiftly close and disinfect stores following confirmed reports of COVID-19 among employees, provide personal protective equipment for employees, and provide adequate paid sick leave for its workforce.
The open letter coincided with an employee strike across 20 cities in the United States. Dr. Bassett and Linos signed in their capacity as members of the Poor People’s Campaign COVID-19 Health Justice Advisory Committee. Learn more about the Committee here.