Fast Food Workers Plan Strike To Protest Coronavirus Conditions

LOS ANGELES, CA — Non-union cooks and cashiers at more than 30 restaurants in Los Angeles and across California will walk off the job this week to protest conditions during the coronavirus outbreak.

As essential workers across the nation see their ranks hit with the coronavirus, many are demanding protective gear, hand-washing breaks and social distancing procedures to keep them safe on the job. On Thursday, hundreds of California employees from Burger King, Taco Bell, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Popeye's, El Pollo Loco and WaBa Grill are expected to walkout.

The walkout was inspired by McDonald's employee strikes in Los Angeles this week. On Tuesday, nine employees at a Los Angeles Domino's, where a coworker tested positive for COVD-19, joined McDonald's protesters in walking off the job.

The series of strikes at a McDonald's in Los Angeles, where staged where a worker tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Los Angeles Times. That spurred similar action at a McDonald's in San Jose, where employees have been on strike since Monday, demanding masks, gloves, soap, hazard pay and sick days, The Times reported.

Workers from some of the restaurants Thursday will stage a "socially distant drive-through strike line" at the McDonald's at 7123 Crenshaw Blvd. in Los Angeles.

Bartolome Perez, who has been on strike since Sunday at a McDonald's in the L.A. area, said the company bottom line "isn't the only thing that's essential."

McDonald's responded late Monday to the L.A. and San Jose protests with a vow to make "important changes" in how its restaurants address health and safety during the coronavirus crisis.

That includes "starting wellness checks, increased cleanings and additional social distancing and hand-washing guidelines," according to spokeswoman Lindsay Rainey.

McDonald's also plans to send non-medical grade masks to the areas of greatest need and will be making gloves available to crew members.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.