McDonald’s workers stage walkout, citing extreme heat inside

Cooks and cashiers walked off the job at a McDonald’s in Los Angeles on Friday, July 20, claiming the restaurant’s broken air conditioning system was forcing them to work in sweltering conditions amid Southern California’s relentless heat wave.

Conditions are especially bad in the kitchen area, workers said, because of more heat coming from the grill, fryers and ovens.

They staged a lunchtime rally outside the restaurant and said they don’t plan to return until management addresses the problem. They say the air conditioning system hasn’t worked properly for three years.

“It’s unbearable,” said Maria Rodriguez, who has been a cook at the 2838 Crenshaw Blvd. McDonald’s for 20 years. “Management doesn’t seem to care. They say the air conditioning is working, but you can feel how hot it is.”

So how hot is ‘hot?’

“One of my coworkers brought a thermometer to work to measure the temperature and it was 95 degrees,” the 49-year-old LA resident said. “We’re all drinking more water, but it’s just extremely hot. They are treating us like animals.”

Nicole Enearu, the restaurant’s owner/operator, responded in a statement issued late Friday:

“We understand that there’s an uncomfortable heat wave in LA, which is why we’re even more focused on ensuring the safety of our employees inside our restaurants,” Enearu said. “Our air conditioning is functioning properly at this location.”

Co-worker Dora Argueta complained about the heat and wasn’t happy with her manager’s response.

“He said it’s a good time to lose weight,” Argueta said. “I said, ‘no, this heat is going to dehydrate us.’ But he just brushed it off and told us to drink more water.”

Wielding signs reading “No AC, no Service” and “McDonald’s on Strike,” employees picketed the restaurant Friday while cars passed by. They were supported by members of Fight for $15, an organization that’s working to boost wages and improve working conditions for fast-food employees.

Angelica Hernandez, a Fight for $15 committee member who also works in fast food, wasn’t surprised to hear of the heat-related problem at the restaurant.

“I don’t have to think too much about it because I’ve been working through extreme heat as well,” she said. “This is happening across the fast-food industry. And summer is just getting started.”

Restaurant workers make up a tenth of LA County’s overall workforce, and more than a third of Los Angeles restaurant workers are employed in fast-food. Many say they’re struggling to survive amid low wages, rising inflation and high housing costs.

In some cases, they face additional problems.

Employees at another McDonald’s at 3868 E. 3rd St. in East LA staged an eight-day walkout in June, claiming management was pressuring them to work while sick or recovering from serious injuries.

That came just weeks after employee Bertha Montes died.

In a May 31 complaint filed with the California Labor Commissioner and CalOSHA, coworkers said Montes told her manager she was sick on April 13 and needed to go home.

She was forced to work another three hours, the complaint said, and when she died about five weeks later her sister informed an employee at the restaurant that Montes died as a result of thyroid problems, which affected her blood and lungs.

Matthew Tulaphorn, who owns and operates the East L.A. restaurant, said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of Montes’ death and promised management would investigate the allegations.

Fast food workers are pushing for passage of Assembly Bill 257, which create a 10-person, state-run council to negotiate wages, hours and working conditions for the more than half a million fast-food workers in California.

The bill will come before voters in the November 2024 election.