hankyoreh

Members of the Part-time Workers‘ Union hold placards while demonstrating outside a McDonald’s in Bucheon’s Yeokgok neighborhood

The Part-Time Workers’ Union announced that it would occupy two Seoul branches of McDonald’s - located in Sinchon neighborhood and at Yonsei University - on Feb. 7.

“During the 27 years since McDonald’s opened its door in South Korea in 1988, it has habitually oppressed workers without showing any intention of correcting these practices. For that reason, we are taking the extreme step of occupying McDonald’s branches,” Lee Hye-jeong, secretary general for the union, said in a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh on Feb. 3.

“Even though problems connected with McDonald’s employment of part-time workers came to light last year, McDonald’s has given no indication that it means to address these problems. By occupying the branch, the union means to send McDonald’s a message: we are watching you, and we will not remain silent if you continue to treat your part-time workers with cruelty,” said Lee.

“Another objective of the demonstration is to show part-time workers that they don‘t have to put up with heavy-handed behavior and that they can achieve solidarity and report unfair behavior through the union,” she added.

criticizing the company for cutting part-time workers

The event was triggered by allegations about the unfair termination of a part-time worker at McDonald’s in Nov. 2014.

Around that time, Lee Ga-hyun, 21, who was working at the Yeokgok branch of the fast-food chain in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, told the union how she was forced to come to work later or go home earlier than the hours stated in her employment contract and how her manager would tamper with the time clock.

Lee also said that she had been let go from her job unfairly. “The manager told me I was being fired because my coworkers were uncomfortable with my participation in the union,” she said.

In December of last year, the union carried out a survey of part-time working conditions at McDonald’s. The survey found instances in which McDonald’s had failed to provide a work contract, forced workers to go home early, paid workers late, and violated the Labor Standards Act.

After the survey was released, the union informed McDonald’s that its illegal practices had come to light. If McDonald’s wanted to keep its company image from being damaged any further, the union suggested, it should enter negotiations to correct these practices.

After some time went by with no reply, McDonald‘s at last sent an official response to the union on Jan. 27. In this response, the company disputed the claim that Lee’s termination had been unfair.

“Lee Ga-hyun left the company at the expiration of her employment contract. After she quit, we offered her an opportunity to return to work. However, when it became clear that she was not interested in applying for another job, we respected her decision,” McDonald’s said in its response.

“In line with our conviction that people are our most valuable asset, we have been providing employees at our branches with opportunities for personal development for the past 26 years through our comprehensive system of education, which is available to all regardless of gender or educational background. Our efforts in this area have received recognition, including a number of awards from the South Korean government.”

“More than 70% of our managers, who are regular employees, and more than 50% of the staff at our company headquarters began their careers in a fast-food branch. The same is true of three of the company’s six global CEOs,” the letter said.

“The various occupations at our corporate office and our branches that the labor union has organized so far have intimidated our employees, and the company is very dismayed by this behavior. We hope that similar behavior will not occur in the future,” the company concluded.

Two days later - on Jan. 29 - the union posted a response to McDonald’s on its website expressing its position.

“Lee Ga-hyun was willing to continue working, but the manager told her to leave because her activity with the union was ‘making people uncomfortable.’ Three months after she held a press conference in front of the branch stating that she had been terminated unfairly, the store manager abruptly and without any explanation suggested that she submit a new job application,” the union said.

“When Lee decided to discuss how to resolve this issue with the union, she was stunned that the company’s response was to assume that she was unwilling to go back to work. Why was Lee the only person who was asked to leave when her contract came up?” the union retorted.

The union also drew attention to the results of the working conditions survey it conducted of part-time workers at McDonald’s this past December.

“65% of part-time workers at McDonald’s have been forced to go home early and 22% are still waiting for back wages. Despite the numerous allegations of illegal behavior, McDonald’s has failed to make any sort of response to these allegations and merely reiterates its claim that it abides by the law. McDonald’s needs to acknowledge its illegal behavior and indicate clearly how it intends to address this,” the union said.

“Workers wonder why McDonald’s, one of the world’s biggest fast food corporations, only hires part-time workers for customer service positions at its branches and only pays them the minimum wage for the work that they do. Considering the irrelevant response we received from McDonald‘s, we are not going to alter our plans to hold a sit-in. In fact, we will make every effort to hold more of these demonstrations,” the union said.

The union demanded that McDonald’s come to the table by Feb. 3, before it held the occupation, to address its unlawful behaviors, but the company has yet to offer any response.

The Hankyoreh tried contacting McDonald’s public relations department several times for comment, but reporters’ phone calls were not returned.

By Park Su-jin, staff reporter

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