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Papa John’s workers picket after sudden store closure, layoffs

March 30, 2023

Employees picketed a Papa John’s pizza shop in Lynwood on Thursday, March 30 to protest its abrupt closure and their resulting layoffs.

The non-union cooks, cashiers and delivery drivers said management called a staff meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday to inform them that the restaurant would be shutting down the following day and that they would all lose their jobs.

Jose de la Torre, who had worked at the Lynwood store for nearly four years, said the announcement caught everyone off guard.

“It was very sad,” the Los Angeles resident said. “Management said they would give us severence pay according to how long each of us worked here, but they only offered me one week.”

De la Torre said management didn’t offer to transfer displaced employees to other Papa John’s locations.

Workers said they would picket the store until management presents an acceptable agreement on severence pay, along with transfers to other company locations. They were joined Thursday by members of Fight For $15 and a Union, which is working to improve wages and working conditions for fast-food employees.

Representatives with the Atlanta-based pizza chain could not be reached for comment Thursday, although a media contact indicated the Lynwood store was a franchise location. When called, the store’s phone appeared to be disconnected.

The store’s closure and protest comes on the heels of increasing worker activism at the restaurant concerning safety and claims that management retaliated against employees for speaking out on safety issues. (Photo courtesy of Fight For $15 and a Union)

Thursday’s closure and protest comes on the heels of increasing worker activism at the restaurant.

On Christmas Eve, workers went on strike demanding that Papa John’s improve safety measures for employees who had faced a string of robberies and other gun-related incidents at the store.

Two workers filed a public health complaint with Cal/OSHA in December, alleging unsafe conditions and multiple threatening incidents with people holding guns at work or on their delivery routes.

In the complaint, cashier Aura Lopez describes being threatened with a gun in the parking lot after closing the store by herself one night.

“I was sitting inside my car for about four minutes when a man came up holding a gun,” the 22-year-old Los Angeles resident said. “A friend was with me in the car and we immediately left.”

De la Torre described similary instances of feeling unsafe during deliveries, including one when a customer refused to pay and pointed to a gun in his waistband.

Employees staged a second strike at the Lynwood location in January, alleging their store’s owner retaliated against activist workers by cutting their hours rather than engaging with them on the safety issues they raised.

The workers are also also seeking implementation of Assembly Bill 257, which would create a 10-person, state-run council to negotiate wages, hours and working conditions for the more than half a million fast-food workers in California.

The legislation, also known as the FAST Recovery Act, was signed into law Sept. 5 by Gov. Gavin Newsom. But Save Local Restaurants — a coalition of fast-food franchisees and franchisors who oppose the measure — gathered enough signatures to halt the bill and place a referendum on the 2024 ballot to let voters decide its outcome.

The bill is designed to help workers who often struggle to make ends meet. It would also address wage theft, harassment, discrimination and unsafe work conditions fast-food workers say they face on the job.

Orange County Register

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Papa John’s workers picket after sudden store closure, layoffs

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