BrianLaws
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| Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 11:26 am Post subject: McDonald's Strongly Anti-Union |
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As Ray Kroc was fond of reminding his employees, "None of us is as good as all of us." (That slogan can still be found on staff bulletin boards across the United States, to caution employees against getting too uppity.) After all, this is the guy who barred women from becoming McDonald's employees until 1968 – but only on the condition that they be “kind of flat-chested,” so as to keep from distracting the customers from the fries.
Perhaps that's why the company has always done everything in its power to keep its employees from unionizing: It's difficult, if not impossible, to maintain that degree of control in the face of organized labor. When employees do attempt to organize (a not-unheard-of occurrence, given the wages), McDonald's dispatches a “flying squad” of anti-union negotiators to the franchise in question. The squad gently steers their wayward flock back onto the path of virtue by reminding them of how lucky they are to be a part of the “McFamily.”
Of course, employees do occasionally succeed in unionizing, as the did at one McDonald's, in St. Hubert, Quebec – but the location was promptly closed by corporate immediately thereafter.
But the company's labor practices are entirely in keeping with Ray Kroc's legacy. In 1972, Kroc gave one of the few political donations of his career: $250,000 to Nixon's reelection campaign. The reason: a piece of legislation called “the McDonald's bill,” which would allow employers – particularly the booming fast-food industry – to pay their teenage employees 20% less than the federally mandated minimum wage. Which meant that the kids in the paper hats got $1.28 an hour, rather than the princely sum of $1.60 that minimum wagers made. |
Source: http://www.minyanville.com/articles//9/3/2009/index/a/23456 |
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