McDonald's and unions

The ownership and legal structures significantly impact the bargaining power and industrial relations between McDonald's and its workers.

[4] Several McDonald's stores claimed that workers could either access drinking and toilet facilities at this time or take their allocated break.

RAFFWU responded that this contravened the negotiated agreement and that workers had the right to drink water or go to the toilet whenever they wished.

RAFFWU organized a "historic" protest in front of the Myer Centre McDonald's in Brisbane, demanding "basic human rights" like drinking water.

[1]: 402–405 In contrast to the works council system in Germany, Austrian labor law requires candidates to be EU citizens, which is a challenge for the ~70% migrant workers of McDonald's Austria.

When McDonald's arrived in Denmark in 1981, it engaged in industrial disputes with Restaurant Trade Union, before concluding a regional collective agreement in 1989.

This is because it is wholly registered in under the American McDonald's Corporation in Chicago, Illinois, which is permitted under the German-American Trade Agreement.

After failed negotiations, Takano's lawsuit was resolved in a court ruling in 2008, with back pay and overtime afforded to all tenchō employees.

McDonald's resisted changing its practices fundamentally, for example providing overtime pay, but also reducing the base wages so that there is little net difference.

[16] On 4 September 2017, the first strike actions were organized at two restaurants in Cambridge and Crayford with support of Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union.

[18] The NLRB in October 2023 paved the way for more expansive definition of joint-employment that would force McDonald's to directly negotiate with trade unions.