Employees of Downtown Oakland’s only McDonald’s restaurant went on strike Tuesday after the franchise owner announced it would close the location at the end of the month.
A small but vocal group of workers, mainly made up of cooks and cashiers, set up in front of the Jackson Street location and called for McDonald’s to help place them in other locations instead of taking their jobs away.
Maria Maldonado, an organizer with the California Fast Food Workers Union, which was formed in 2024, spoke about the employees’ demands and made a plea for McDonald’s to close the store on good terms. She said around 40 staff stand to lose their jobs and were primarily asking to be relocated to other McDonald’s locations.
“These workers were given ten days’ notice that the location would be closing,” said Maldonado. “That is not enough time to find a new job. Many of these people were crying when they heard the location was closing and will now have to struggle this holiday.”
Throughout the afternoon, chants in Spanish echoed across the corner of Jackson and 14th Street. Daisy Gomez, one of the union’s organizers, led call-and-response chants into a megaphone while fellow strikers held up their colorful protest signs in the iconic red and yellow colors of the restaurant.
“Trabajadores unidos, jamas sera vencido! McDonald’s, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” said Gomez passionately.
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The chants translate to, “Workers united, will never be divided! McDonald’s, listen! We are in this fight!”
Employees ranged from recent hires to individuals who had been working at the restaurant for over 17 years. A few spoke in front of the blocked doors about the troubles the restaurant has experienced, but stressed how employees stood together to keep the store running.
In May, the restaurant was closed due to health code violations and alleged reports of rats in the kitchen. While workers said progress was made to address the problems, they didn’t expect the entire restaurant to close months later on such short notice.
Antonia Ortega, a cook who has worked there for over eight years, said employees were told on Nov. 19 that the store was to close within ten days. She said management and human relations cited poor sales, but Ortega felt like the constant stream of customers counteracted that narrative.
“I close at night. I see how busy we get throughout the day and evening, and I felt like we were doing alright,” said Ortega.
Ortega said that learning her job was ending so swiftly added insult to injury, giving them no time to be “mentally prepared” for the life disruption.
She added that her fellow coworkers who accrued lots of vacation and sick hours would not be able to use them. McDonald’s was unable to confirm this.
According to an email statement from McDonald’s, the owner of the Oakland restaurant does not own any other locations in the city and employees impacted can apply to other local stores.
“I’ve made the difficult decision to close my Jackson Street restaurant on November 30,” said owner Joseph Wong in an emailed statement. “My organization is thankful to the local community for their years of support, and to our hardworking crew members who showed up every day to serve our customers.”
Karina Galindo, who works two jobs and supports a family of four, has been a cook for two years and said she wants management to put themselves in the shoes of the employees. For her, the money she will get from her last McDonald’s paycheck will cover November bills, but remains unsure how she will cover December expenses.
“If we had two or three months of notice, we would have had the ability to make the decision to stay or leave,” said Galindo. “It feels like they don’t care. McDonald’s is a big chain with a lot of options, so we are just asking for employment.”
The strikers were unsure how quickly they could find a new job after the restaurant closes, but hoped they could pressure the company and the California Fast Food Council, the state agency responsible for setting policies for fast food brands, to adopt standards to prevent such scenarios in the future.
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