Union of Southern Service Workers
- Burger King employees in Georgia say broken AC equipment is making their job unbearable.
- The fast food workers held a rally outside the location on a day that reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Extreme heat has led to walkouts at several McDonald's locations over health and safety concerns.
Burger King workers in Decatur, Georgia, are the latest to raise concerns about health issues they've experienced working during soaring summer temps without air conditioning.
On Friday — a day that reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit in Atlanta — the employees held a rally outside the location along with workers from Dollar General and other service stores, backed by the Union of Southern Service Workers.
"Equipment failure is happening and making it unbearable to work in this heat. The exhaust over the grill doesn't even work," Burger King employee and USSW member Arnice Sykes said in a statement. "I have lupus and other serious health conditions. I can't work in these conditions. I've told management and nothing was done."
The USSW said the workers will file a complaint with the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration that says the franchise owner's negligence of the ventilation systems has led workers to get sick.
Burger King did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
TODAY: It’s too 🔥in Atlanta. At a @BurgerKing in Decatur, the A/C is broken, workers are getting sick because of it, and Burger King does nothing. We spoke out along with other service workers to demand this extreme heat issue is stopped! #UnionsForAll pic.twitter.com/RABPnhBzTy
— Union of Southern Service Workers (@RaiseUptheSouth) July 28, 2023
The fast food workers were joined by a former Dollar General worker who says she lost her job aftecomplaininged about high temperatures in her store.
"I would feel nauseous, my head would start hurting, and they would tell me to stand in front of the fan. But it didn't help at all. We needed AC," the worker, Tay Milsap, said in a statement.
Record-breaking extreme heat has recently highlighted health issues of working in the fast food industry, particularly in locations without adequate air conditioning.
Last week, workers at McDonald's locations in Houston, Texas, and Los Angeles each walked out after working without AC during heatwaves.
And in Italy, unionized McDonald's workers went on strike as temperatures there reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit.