McDonald's manager tells worker to "Put a bullet" in her head

I found this story through the Daily Kos, which links to an MSNBC story:

 Workers rallied at a Chicago McDonald’s Saturday afternoon after an employee claimed she was told to “put a bullet” in her head after asking to go home following a “diabetic episode.”

Fast food workers, members of the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago and Aldermen Bob Fioretti, John Arena, Scott Waguespack, and Ricardo Muñoz gathered at the flagship Rock N' Roll McDonald’s around 2 p.m. sporting stickers that read “respect” and “no more verbal abuse."

They also displayed a poster to McDonald’s management that said “You should just put a bullet in your head.”

Carmen Navarrette, a McDonald’s employee for more than nine years at the River North restaurant, claims she was told to “put a bullet” in her head after she asked her manager to go home and recover following a “severe diabetic episode," according to a release from the Workers Organizing Committee of Chicago.

Navarrette reportedly shared her experience with the Organizing Committee of Chicago Women Caucus during a meeting last weekend where other workers shared similar stories, prompting the Saturday rally.

"I'm here on International Women's Day to support my fellow workers, women, and stand with my union,” Adriana Sanchez, an employee of the Rock N' Roll McDonald’s, said in a statement. “We are the heart and soul of McDonald's and it's unacceptable for any worker to be yelled at and insulted."

I will be honest, and say that I don't know if this story is true or not, in that a McDonald's manager told this employee to "put a bullet" in her head.  But it is another example of the contentious fight that has been taking place between fast food workers and the corporate industry.  The work is hard, with long hours and very low pay.  It is about the only jobs left in this country, along with WalMart retail jobs--and both pay a minimum wage that has not kept up with inflation.  It used to be that fast food jobs were first jobs for high school and college kids.  Now the jobs are taken over by middle age, elderly, minorities, and just about anyone who needs a job that doesn't even pay enough to survive on.  I doubt that the McDonald's manager will be fired, or reprimanded for this abuse.  I doubt that McDonald's will do anything, but stay quiet and hope this scandal blows away. 

It will not go away.  As long as jobs are scarce, wages are low, and Americans are desperate for any type of work, companies will get away with this abuse.