[lbo-talk] chipotle restaurants and undocmented workers

MICHAEL YATES mikedjyates at msn.com
Sun May 8 11:11:12 PDT 2011


Chipotle Restaurants, based in Denver and headed by Steve Ells, a judge on a recent NBC show (America’s Next Great Restaurant), is under investigation for massive hiring of undocumented workers. I think undocumented workers should have full employment rights and be granted immediate amnesty. The chain, which has 1,084 restaurants and sales of $1.8 billion, currently employs 27,000 workers but has a turnover rate of about 100 percent a year. It plans to hire 100,000 workers over the next three years. Draw your own conclusions as to what this might tell us about wages, working conditions, unpaid wages when workers quit, and so forth. The company has a "finely honed image as a progressive restaurant operator." As one industry analyst said, "Their whole branding strategy is a company that does things right — healthful foods, humane treatment of animals, progressive procedures." Ells once said, "We decided long ago that we didn't want Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the environment, but the engagement of our customers." No mention here of the workers! Ells went to school in Boulder, Colorado, and this sounds a lot like the liberal claptrap we’d here so often when we lived there. See denverpost.com for details.



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