U.S : Workers visibly sick, wearing coffee filters as masks !!

Dear friend,

McDonald's employees are getting sick with COVID-19 but they can't stay home. 

We're in the middle of a pandemic, and the mega-corporation is still refusing its frontline employees, a majority of whom are women and people of color, paid sick and family leave. No one should have to choose between their health--and the health of others--and keeping their job. 

McDonald's could literally save lives right now by taking action. Other large corporations like Whole Foods and Starbucks are now offering paid sick leave after pressure from the public. That's why we're joining our friends at the ACLU, Fight for $15, and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) to demand McDonald's do the right thing. Will you add your name?

Tell McDonald's:  "Give workers paid leave protections now."

Sign the petition

McDonald's employees are essential workers showing up to their jobs in the middle of a global pandemic. Yet they are having to strike for even basic protections. 92% of McDonald's workers surveyed said they haven't even received masks. And as of April, employees across twelve different states had tested positive for COVID-19.^1,2

We know the COVID-19 crisis is hitting Black and Latinx communities the hardest and impacting women the most--women and people of color make up the majority of workers on the frontline, including at McDonald's.^3,4 One of the wealthiest corporations on the planet is turning its back on its nearly 800,000 employees and the health of the entire public. 

One employee at a San Francisco McDonald's where four workers tested positive and a complaint was filed with the local department of public health said “employees have come to work while visibly sick, and when personal protective equipment was in short supply at the restaurant, employees were told to wear coffee filters as masks.”⁴

These workers who get sick are faced with an impossible choice--keep working while sick or lose their job. This endangers the health of everyone. But it doesn't have to be this way. 

Last week, McDonald's employees around the country staged strikes and protests to demand paid sick leave, and McDonald's is feeling the pressure. If thousands of us add our voices now, we could push McDonald's to finally do the right thing. 

Will you sign the petition demanding McDonald's give all workers paid leave protections now?

Thanks for speaking out !

Shaunna, Kat, Kathy, Anathea, Sonja, Melody, Lindsay, Pam, Maria, Kimberly, and Katie, the UltraViolet team.

Sources :

1. Service Employees International Union, McDonald’s Worker COVID-19 Survey Data Brief, nationwide online survey conducted between March 31 and April 6, 2020

2. Coronavirus energizes the labor movement. Can it last?, Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2020

3. How millions of women became the most essential workers in America, Boston Globe, April 18, 2020

4. What the Racial Data Show, The Atlantic, April 6, 2020

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