Labor organizers seek unusual ally in fast-food franchisees
NEW YORK – Labor organizers are opening a new front in their campaign for a $15-an-hour wage for fast-food workers by aiming to mobilize an unusual ally: franchisees.
The Service Employees International Union plans to announce Thursday it is launching a website in hopes of building a national network of fast-food franchisees who want better protections for their businesses. The push has the potential to create more unrest within the ranks for companies like McDonald’s, which are already dealing with demonstrations.
McDonald’s has more than 3,000 franchisees in the United States who run about 90 percent of its more than 14,300 locations.
The latest effort by the SEIU would mark an uneasy alliance, since franchisees are small-business owners who aren’t generally aligned with unions.
“It’s an odd relationship, let’s face it,” said Keith Miller, a Subway franchisee in northern California and head of the Coalition of Franchisee Associations, which is working with the SEIU on the effort.
Still, support from the nation’s second-largest union could give franchisee advocates more clout in their push to change what they said is an imbalance of power. Franchisee advocates said they’re at the mercy of big companies like McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Burger King, which have the power to terminate their agreements and strip them of their livelihoods.
“All is not great and wonderful in the world of franchising,” Miller said.
The outreach to franchisees is just the latest move in a campaign to win pay of $15 an hour and a union for fast-food workers.
The effort began in late 2012 and involves a range of tactics intended to pressure McDonald’s, including demonstrations in a growing number of cities and multiple lawsuits on behalf of workers in the United States and abroad.
The SEIU is also taking aim at the position by McDonald’s Corp. that the company is not responsible for employment decisions at franchised locations.
The National Labor Relations Board’s general counsel said last year McDonald’s could be named as a “joint employer,” in charges filed by worker groups over alleged labor violations. The hearing on the case began last month and is expected to be a lengthy legal battle.