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On social media, there are signs that employees are leaving and restaurants are short-staffed.
Nebraska was in the middle of a heat wave in the middle of June, with temperatures in the 90s and 100s. Inside a Lincoln Burger King, it felt a lot worse.
Rachael Flores, who used to be the location’s general manager, told Auto News360 that working during the lunch rush next to the hot fryers made her and her employees turn bright red as they tried to keep cool. Due to COVID-19 rules, people had to wear face masks, which only made things worse.
“Just now, people are starting to feel sick. And I got really sick one day, to the point where I was kind of crazy. I couldn’t even stand up, “she told me.
Flores said that her coworkers told her to go home, so she did. She was late for a meeting with higher-ups because of this.
Flores says that her boss was not happy that she left work because it was too hot. She says he told her she was being a baby, making excuses, and not doing her job. She said that when she told someone higher up in the chain of command, that person told her she was lying. Burger King corporate and its parent company, Restaurant Brands International, did not respond to many requests for comment on these claims, and calls to the Lincoln store went unanswered.
That was the last thing Flores could take. She worked for two weeks, and at least eight of the 13 people on the location’s crew did the same.
On July 10, employees who were leaving wrote their last words on an outdoor sign: “We all quit. Sorry about the trouble.”
On sites like Reddit, people shared the sign a lot. People in the comments said things like “Good for them!” and “We love to see it!”
People are posting more and more photos of fast food places with signs saying they are closed because they don’t have enough workers. For example, this TikTok of a McDonald’s shows a sign that says “everyone quit” and an empty kitchen.
Fast-food workers usually make the minimum wage or close to it. During the pandemic, they were seen as “essential workers.” Some of them are done with it.
Flores’s problem wasn’t the money, but a lot of other things. She says that the restaurant’s air conditioner was broken for a long time, and that management would fix it quickly, but it would break again a few hours later. She said it was frustrating that she couldn’t make sure the people she managed had safe places to work. When asked about these rules, Burger King didn’t say anything.
On top of that, Flores said there was a constant staffing problem that left only four people for the lunch shift to cook, take orders, and work the drive-thru when there should have been eight or nine.
Kylee Johnson, another worker who quit, told Auto News360 that those shifts were hard to do.
“So when Rachael asked for two weeks, I said, “That’s it. I’m done.” I’m no longer staying here, “said Johnson.
Cheyenne Coulter, who had worked there for eight years, confirmed that there were problems with the air conditioning and the number of staff. She quit after Flores, who Coulter said was “one of the best things to happen to that store.”
Coulter told Auto News360, “I was sick of the way my boss and I were being treated.” “One reason I left was because Flores was leaving, but another was that I couldn’t take it any longer. If Rachael hadn’t been there, I would have left a long time ago.”
Many of the people who quit did so on Saturday, July 10. Flores said that management wasn’t ready, so they sent people in with $1 raises to try to get people to stay.
“Then they found out that they were hiring new managers at the same pay as the ones they already had. Then it’s like, “You’re only going to give us $1?” So, what is it? Like, you don’t value us?” she told me.
Flores and another employee put up the sign as a “fuck you” to management and an apology to customers, including their regulars. Flores didn’t think she would see the sign on social media while she was still working.
Flores says that soon after that, her bosses called her about the sign and told her to take it down.
“I was like, Well, I’m sorry. We need more people. It’s time to start eating lunch. I don’t have enough time right now “she told me.
Her last day was supposed to be the Monday after that, but Flores said she was fired for the sign on the day she was supposed to leave. She said that the icing on the cake was that the people corporate sent to close the store for the day didn’t know how to turn off the lights and had to call Flores.
Flores said that people like her are less willing to put up with what they think are bad working conditions because of the stress of working during the pandemic and the fact that unemployment benefits have been extended. She and Johnson both said that the pandemic has made people look for new jobs.
“It’s a good time to sit there and say, “Okay, I’m worth more than this.” This doesn’t have to happen to me, “said Flores.
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