Column: Trump’s labor regulators hand McDonald’s a big win over its workers

McDonald’s cooks and cashiers, as well as union supporters, rally in front of a McDonald’s on La Tijera Boulevard, demanding higher wages and union rights in Los Angeles on Dec 19, 2019. On the surface, the decision handed down Thursday affects only 20 McDonald’s workers who were the subject of unfair labor practice complaints the NLRB filed against the giant company in December 2014. A finding of joint-employer status.would have important collateral consequences for McDonald’s, in both unfair labor practice proceedings involving its franchisees and.if workers employed at McDonald’s franchisees sought to organize. The NLRB’s goal at the time was to classify McDonald’s as a “joint employer” with its franchisees, which would make the company jointly liable for the labor law violations of the franchise owners. As McFerran observed in her dissent, “a finding of joint-employer status.would have important collateral consequences for McDonald’s, in both unfair labor practice proceedings involving its franchisees and.if workers employed at McDonald’s franchisees sought to organize”.