For thousands of fast food workers in California, going to work isn’t just long hours and low wages, but also the constant fear of ICE raids ambushing their workplace.
Fast food workers are standing in solidarity with their undocumented coworkers for their employers to sign a pledge reaffirming workers’ rights amid ICE raids at workplaces across the U.S.
According to a 2021 report by the Labor Center at UCLA, roughly 60 percent of California’s fast food workers are Latino, nearly two-thirds are women, and more than a quarter are immigrants. Due to limited employment opportunities, fast food has been a relatively reliable source of income. Now, fast food workers are afraid to come into work for fear of being taken and kidnapped, all while trying to make ends meet.
Full-day, in-person “Know Your Rights” training equips workers with the tools to defend themselves, not only against wage theft and unsafe working conditions, but also against federal agents who may attempt to detain them at their workplace. Employers learn that warrants are needed to conduct searches in private areas, while employees know their rights when encountering ICE agents.
For example, in Kansas City, employers are trained to understand that warrants must be judicial, not administrative warrants. Furthermore, workers are reminded that they have the right to document and record under the First Amendment and the right to due process of law and to remain silent when questioned by law enforcement under the Fifth Amendment.
At an El Pollo Loco in San Jose, employees protested excessive workplace heat as temperatures pushed into the eighties. Incidents such as the walkout at El Pollo Loco reveal that labor exploitation and immigration enforcement are not separate issues, but mutually reinforcing ones. Those fears have only intensified after this summer’s sweeping ICE raids in Los Angeles, which so far have led to more than 1,600 arrests.
Employers are seemingly reluctant to address ICE raids. Doing so would require acknowledging how low-wage industries depend on workers’ vulnerability and financial insecurity. When immigrant workers fear detention or deportation, they are unlikely to challenge unsafe conditions, low pay, or abusive management practices. At the benefit of fast food corporations, ICE makes employees fearful and disposable.
Fast food workers need meaningful and protective measures against ICE. It starts with employers having the inherent responsibility to ensure their workers are safe and protected during regular hours.
The pledge outlines several measures to protect vulnerable workers. One measure ensures employees have access to private, secure areas in the workplace to prevent immigration enforcement officers from entering those spaces without a judicial warrant.
In San Jose, workers at a McDonald’s franchise walked off the job after management refused to confirm whether they would support employees if ICE arrived. Instead, workers said they were told to hide in their cars if enforcement officers appeared.
The California Fast Food Workers Union is part of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU has secured several major victories, including a twenty dollar minimum wage for fast food employees in California and heat protections for indoor workers. In response to the strike, the California Fast Food Workers Union emphasized that McDonald’s has the legal authority to refuse entry to immigration officers in non-public areas of the restaurant unless they present a warrant signed by a federal judge. The union also noted that other businesses have already taken steps to assert this right, posting signs and training staff on how to enforce these protections.
In Santa Clara County, home to an estimated 26,000 fast food workers, organizers and advocates are applauding the Board of Supervisors’ recent approval of a training program that will educate fast food workers about their workplace rights. The county’s decision represents another milestone for the California Fast Food Workers Union. District 2 supervisor Betty Duong, who was an employment law attorney from 2014 through 2016, proposed the training idea. “I would say half of the cases that I worked on were small business owners who did not have access to HR companies or attorneys, or accidental noncompliance with the changing landscape of labor law,” Duong said before the vote.
This is precisely why full-day, in-person Know Your Rights training is critical. When workers understand how to respond to immigration raids, assert their legal protections, and understand labor laws, they are better equipped to protect themselves. Protecting immigrant workers is not separate from improving labor standards. Without these protections, fear will continue to silence workers, allowing exploitation to persist unchecked.
Featured Image Source: Flickr