The trade unions have gathered testimonies of employees of the group Mcdonald’s anywhere in the world, ranging from “vulgar comments to physical assault”.
vulgar Comments, inappropriate touching, assault : an international coalition of trade unions was seized on Monday, the OECD, accusing the group Mcdonald’s to tolerate a “sexual harassment is systematic in its restaurants in the world.
“The violence and harassment based on gender are part of the culture of Mcdonald’s,” said the group, which was sent to the national contact Point (NCP) of the netherlands Organization of economic cooperation and development. Are also referred to two investment banks, the Dutch APG Asset Management and the Norwegian Norges Bank, the present capital of the global giant of the restoration to the tune of 1.7 billion dollars, according to the trade unions.
Of the “vulgar comments to physical assault”
Mcdonald’s has affirmed to the AFP that it would consider the reference as of its receipt, providing you have already introduced “a very important discussion about a work environment that is safe and respectful (in their institutions) in the United States and in the world”. This is according to the coalition of the first reference to “sexual harassment and generalized in a multinational company”, in the framework of the guiding principles of the OECD.
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These include, in particular, that multinational companies and their shareholders in respect of labour rights such as the protection of employees against sexual violence. “These principles are not laws, but they create obligations for multinational corporations,” said Lance Compa, an expert in international labour law, during a video conference.
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The trade unions have gathered testimony, with allegations ranging from “vulgar comments to physical assaults against employees in Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Jamelia Fairley, who has worked for four years in a franchised restaurant in Sanford, Florida, told of having been the victim of sexual comments and touching from male co-workers. She has made several reports, but the company “has not taken seriously” and has reduced his working hours, assured the young woman. The coalition also cites a case in a restaurant in France, where a manager would have installed a mobile phone in the dressing room to film female employees in the process of change.
mediation successful
Ricardo Patah, president of the general Union of workers (UGT) brazilian, also referred 23 complaints employees registered in the country for bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination.
the direction of The giant american fast-food has been at the centre of controversy late last year: its ceo Steve Easterbrook has been fired for an affair “granted” but contrary to regulations with a staff member.
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Mcdonald’s, which is headquartered in the United States, is also responsible for working conditions in its franchised outlets, representing 90% of the restaurants, say the unions. The trade unions have chosen the netherlands because the country is the “nerve centre” of operations of Mcdonald’s in Europe and the headquarters of the bank APG.
In Europe, Mcdonald’s is the first chain of restaurants with approximately 500 000 employees, of which 90% are franchised. But the collective agreements are different in different countries and do not necessarily apply to employees of franchised restaurants, said Kristjan Bragason general secretary of the european trade union Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism.
The file must be investigated by the Dutch NCP, who will decide within three months if it began a process of mediation between the unions and the company.
“It is a system that is non-binding, the NCP cannot force Mcdonald’s to do something, or to punish or cause to be paid to” the company, noted Lance Compa. But he stressed that the process “has already proven that it was effective” and that “a lot of mediations had been successful” at reforming some of the companies that were afraid to see their brand image tarnished.
