Friday, September 27, 2013

Give a kid a cookie, end up fired

Carlos Hernandez was fired after he led a walkout of Subway workers in Seattle over the summer.

The owner of  the Subway franchise, Hasan Zeer, claims he fired Carlos Hernandez for giving a kid a 66-cent cookie.

Legally, most workers can be fired on an employer's whim, but they can't -- at least legally -- be fired for trying to join a union. Hence the cookie excuse.

Working Washington organizers say that Hernandez was fired in retaliation for speaking to press and organizing his coworkers during last month’s fast food strike.

Federal charges have been filed against the fast-food restaurant, but in the meantime, Seattle citizens are letting the owners know how wrong their actions are through Yelp, a popular user-review-based website for businesses.

Dozens of locals have stood up for Carlos and the other workers by writing reviews on the Subway franchise’s Yelp page.

Amy H. from Seattle says:
My sandwiches would taste a lot better if they weren't salted with the tears of mistreated employees. One of the hardest working employees in this franchise was illegally fired for going on strike under the pretense of giving away a $0.66 cookie to a 3 year old. Other employees at this location have also suffered unsafe working conditions, wage theft, and have been denied breaks. Doesn't taste so fresh to me.
Alex M. yelped that:
I used to work at Subway.  The worst part of the job was wringing the extra blood out of the roast beef before serving it.  Now this subway is trying to wring the blood and some extra dough from its workers.
If you think workers should not be fired for speaking out, sign the Working Washington petition or submit a review to their Yelp.