Employees at a California McDonald’s went on strike after they were allegedly told to use dog diapers for masks as a coronavirus outbreak rocked the store, a claim McDonald’s flatly denies.
The workers at the store in Oakland are asking for a two-week paid quarantine, effective personal protective equipment, and the restaurant to be cleaned after at least four employees and their family members contracted COVID-19. The group didn’t report to work on Tuesday, according to the Mercury News. The strikers claimed that after the fast-food chain ran out of masks, they were told to use dog diapers or craft makeshift masks from coffee filters.
One of the employees, Delia Vargas, expressed frustration with the way the company handled the pandemic and has treated workers at the store.
“McDonald’s is treating us like dogs,” Vargas said in a statement. “We don’t want to die for their hamburgers so we are going on strike, to protect ourselves, our families, and our communities.”
Fight For $15, a group working with the demonstrators, said that a manager at the store pushed back on closing for cleaning when asked by one of the employees. The group also claimed that one of the workers who tested positive for COVID-19 was a pregnant mother.
In a statement provided to the Washington Examiner attributed to the store’s owner/operator Michael Smith, Smith said claims of employees being told to wear dog diapers for masks are “entirely false.”
“Prior to any PPE mandates, our organization personally funded and provided 3,000 masks and 500 sets of gloves for our 375 employees in an effort to mitigate any risk of transmission in the restaurant,” he said.
Smith said that the McDonald’s in question has been closed to “perform a deep cleaning procedure and remains closed while we work with a professional cleaning company to sanitize the entire restaurant.”
“We have enforced rigorous handwashing procedures and maintaining social distancing to help ensure employee safety, as well as the safety of our customers,” Smith said. “We have also implemented wellness and temperature checks at the beginning of each shift to ensure our employees are feeling their best and have added protective barriers to limit contact in our restaurants.”
“We expect to reopen in a few days when we can safely staff the restaurant again,” he added. “Our people are the heart and soul of our McDonald’s family, and we are keeping those impacted in our thoughts for a fast and full recovery.”
