NYC Fast Food Workers Get ‘Just Cause’ Protections

NEW YORK CITY — Fast food workers’ worries about being fired from their New York City grab joint jobs for no good reason are about to be 86’d.

A double order of bills signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday serve up long-awaited “just cause” protections for tens of thousand of fast food employees.

“These bills ensure that fast food workers will no longer have to live in fear,” de Blasio said.

The bills ban the firing of food food workers and reducing their hours without “just cause” or bona fide economic reasons. They also allow struggling employers to lay off employees, so long as it’s done in reverse seniority.

New York City is the first place in the country to provide fast food employees with those protections, said Brad Lander, a council member who shepherded the legislation.

“Their victory will serve as a model to build a fairer economy,” he said in a statement.

Council Member Adrienne Adams, who along with Lander introduced the bills, said the coronavirus pandemic only exacerbated the arbitrary firings and unfair reductions in hours fast food workers have faced.

“Frontline fast food workers are predominantly immigrants or women of color who face discrimination and racism in their communities and at work,” she said in a statement. “As we continue to look to ways to fight systemic racism and economic injustice, we must look to the workplace for solutions. I am thrilled that the Just Cause legislative package will be signed today as it is a necessary step to bring accountability to fast food companies and security to the hard-working fast food employees in our City.”