Chipotle employees in New York are going on strike after expressing concerns over Halloween 'Boorito' promotion and poor working conditions

Chipotle employees in New York City are striking on Sunday to protest working conditions and its annual Halloween promotion.
The effort comes after staffers expressed concern about the holiday event following a chaotic BOGO deal day in July.
The strike is also part of a larger effort among staffers statewide calling for recognition of New York's Fair Workweek law.

Chipotle employees in New York City are joining the "Striketober" movement and fighting for better work conditions by protesting the company's annual Halloween "Boorito" promotion event.

Staffers in the Bronx are slated to walk off the job on Sunday afternoon and participate in a rally to protest the "company putting profits before people," according to a press release shared by Local 32BJ, a branch of Service Employees International Union. The strike comes amid an influx organized national protest efforts among frustrated workers in recent months at companies including McDonalds, John Deere, Netflix, and American Airlines.

"Chipotle continues to put workers' livelihoods in danger by cutting hours haphazardly, overworking staff members, and failing to pay their workers their premiums, which workers receive for working clopenings and having their schedules changed abruptly," Local 32BJ wrote in the release. "Their actions have made it difficult for many workers to sustain themselves, let alone their families, on these salaries."

The Halloween day strike comes after several Chipotle staffers expressed concern around this year's promotion, in which burritos purchased online are discounted to $5 and in some cases free to customers using codes obtained by visiting virtual restaurants on the online video game platform Roblox.

The promotion - which in the past typically involved giving discounts to customers visiting the fast-food chain dressed in costume - has long attracted large crowds since it started in October 2000. But employees said they are especially wary this year after a "buy-one-get-one" deal in July left many stores without ingredients, understaffed, and with throngs of angry customers as the event descended into "pure chaos."

"My crew is pretty scared," a manager in Illinois told Insider's Mary Meisenzahl earlier this week. "There's a lot of new employees since turnover is so high, and our customers have been extremely rude and impatient with our short staffing. I'm worried that if the night goes poorly, we'll find ourselves with employees walking out."

John Deere workers on strike in Davenport, Iowa. — John Deere workers on strike on October 15, 2021 in Davenport, Iowa.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

While Chipotle announced in May that it would increase average hourly wages to $15 an hour, Local 32BJ notes in the press release that CEO Brian Niccol did not take a wage cut in 2020, despite doubling his pay from the year prior to $38 million. The organization added that it believes that the $1 million in free burritos given to Robox users should instead be used to support employees.

"Chipotle workers, who are fighting for dignity and respect on the job, for fair raises, just working conditions, believe that if Chipotle can afford this give away, they can afford to follow New York's Fair Workweek Law and pay their workers withheld premiums and just wages," the release states.

Chipotle did not immediately respond to Insider's request to comment on the strike.

In New York, the Sunday strike is also part of a larger effort among Chipotle employees statewide who calling for recognition of the Fair Workweek law, a policy passed in 2017 to prevent abusive practices and unfair scheduling within the fast-food industry.

On Wednesday, staffers at a Chipotle restaurant in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood also went on strike to protest claims of slashed hours that left many incapable of paying their bills.

"They have been subjected to things that are outside their job descriptions, who in the middle of the pandemic have been serving this community," New York Assemblywoman Carmen De La Rosa told NY1. "Chipotle is a corporation who has come into this community and has the audacity to mistreat their workers.

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