Workers at a Kansas City Taco Bell strike over pay and conditions. Walkout closes store

Workers at a Kansas City Taco Bell walked out of the restaurant just before 12:30 p.m. Thursday as upwards of 100 people in the parking lot chanted “C’mon out, we’ve got your back.”

One of the employees locked the doors to the location and hung a sign in the window that read “Closed due to strike! We need a living wage, respect, safe working conditions and a union!”

Fran Marion has worked at the Taco Bell location at 8215 Wornall Road for over a year. Last month, the soda machine flooded, causing standing water in the store. When Marion alerted her manager and closed the doors, she said she was written up.

“You know a company has truly lost its way when workers are punished for reporting obvious workplace hazards,” Marion said.

“They put profit over people.”

The single mother of two children said workers are fighting for living wages and a union.

“We have to deal with short staffing, poverty wages, disrespect from upper management, lack of structure, lack of support, no paid sick days, no health care, even racial abuse from customers,” she said.

“This Labor Day we are calling on Taco Bell and other fast food companies to do the right thing: pay us a living wage, treat us with respect, give us the kind of benefits and working conditions that every worker deserves and give us a seat at the table.”

Taco Bell’s corporate office said the safety and well-being of team members is their top priority.

“The franchise owner and operator of this location is currently looking into this and working to address any team member concerns,” the company said in a statement.

As activists spoke outside the Taco Bell, drivers passing by honked in support while a few cars tried to pull in, but were told the location was closed for the day. Several in the crowd wore red Stand Up KC shirts and held signs saying “On strike” and “Union justice now.”

Terrence Wise has worked in fast food for 27 years and at that Taco Bell on Wornall for six months. He said the wages he’s earned at times have not been enough to support himself and his three daughters and they have experienced homelessness more than once.

A bill passed by the California State Senate earlier this week was a “historic breakthrough,” Wise said. It would give fast food workers bargaining power for wages and other benefits if it’s signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Missouri State Rep. Emily Weber, D-Kansas City, said fast food workers were deemed essential during the pandemic, but have not been treated that way.

“This Labor Day we all need to reflect on how the working class is being treated in America,” Weber said.