By Erik Ortiz -
NBC News
Community activists and union leaders in Chicago are demanding that McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski sit down with black and non-white workers and “address systemic racism” at the fast food company in response to his denounced text message that they say it is "ignorant, racist and unacceptable."
In an open letter signed by a dozen groups last week, Kempczinski was given until Wednesday to meet with employees and community leaders in Chicago.
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The text message was part of his exchange with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in April, a day after the deadly shooting in which 7-year-old black girl Jaslyn Adams died while at a McDonald's drive-thru with her father on the West Side of town.
A month earlier, the city was reeling from the deadly police shooting of 13-year-old Adam Toledo in the predominantly Latino neighborhood of Little Village.
Kempczinski contacted Lightfoot to thank him for his visit to the company's world headquarters in Chicago and wrote that the recent shootings were “tragic,” adding: “With both of them, the parents let those kids down, which I know is something they didn't. you can say.
It is even more difficult to fix ”.
Lightfoot replied, “Thank you Chris.
I'm glad to see you in person ”, also calling the events a“ terrible tragedy ”.
The text sharing gained momentum last week after activists obtained it through a public records request and shared it on social media.
Among the critics was Chicago Councilor Carlos Ramírez-Rosa, a member of the City Council's Hispanic group.
Kempczinski has repeatedly apologized following the publication of the text, according to our sister network CNBC.
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“Not taking the time to think about this from their point of view was a mistake, and I lacked the empathy and compassion I feel for these families.
It is a lesson that I will take with me, ”he replied in a message to employees last week.
He met with corporate employees Monday at company headquarters and online to discuss the text, and had also held listening sessions, including with the leaders of the chosen franchises, CNBC reported.
McDonald's declined to comment Tuesday on the meeting or the letter from community groups and unions.
Lightfoot's office said in a statement that “families do everything they can - mothers, fathers, grandparents - to love and support their children, and tragedies can still strike.
The shame of the victims has no place in this conversation ”.
Baltazar Enríquez, president of the Small Village Community Council, a nonprofit that signed the letter to Kempczinski, said he wants the CEO to publicly support policies that benefit all front-line employees, particularly those who who earn minimum wage and seek to unionize.
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But if Kempczinski does not meet with the workers, he will promote boycotts and protests, according to Enríquez.
Little Village has three McDonald's locations, he added.
“If he wants to take it personally, we are going to take it personally.
We will close this McDonald's, ”said Enriquez.
Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which advocates for police accountability, said Kempczinski's text is emblematic of a "level of callousness that has been going on for a long time."
Customer arrives at a McDonald's with a cow in the back seat of his car
Sept.
13, 202101: 37
“McDonald's is a multibillion dollar company.
They sell a lot of hamburgers and employ a lot of people in black and non-white communities.
So it is unacceptable for him to come and make a racist statement.
And it was a racist statement: we know the difference between an insult and a compliment, ”he argued.
["Fuck pig." A police officer accused McDonald's of insulting him. He lied and has been punished]
McDonald's has faced backlash in recent years over employee complaints about sexual harassment in restaurants and racism.
In 2020, two black executives filed a lawsuit alleging racial discrimination and a hostile work environment under the company's former CEO Steve Easterbrook, who was forced out in November 2019 over a relationship with an employee.
Kempczinski replaced Easterbrook.
Additionally, Byron Allen, a black Los Angeles media mogul, ran full-page ads in major newspapers in recent days accusing Kempczinski of fostering a "toxic racist culture" at McDonald's and calling on his board of directors to remove him.
Two Allen-owned companies filed a lawsuit earlier this year accusing McDonald's of discriminating against black-owned media companies.
McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski in Chicago's West Loop, Wednesday, May 5, 2021.Jean-Marc Giboux / AP
McDonald's has disputed the allegations in the various lawsuits.
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Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union, which has supported McDonald's restaurant workers who have gone on strike for a minimum wage of $ 15 an hour, agreed with Allen's announcement. .
In a statement to our sister network NBC News, Henry opined that Kempczinski should be removed "as one of many necessary steps to address the systemic racism that workers have denounced for years."
The union is also pushing a new ad highlighting the controversy over Kempczinski's text and urging him to "meet with your workers and the Chicago community."
McDonald's, the world's largest hamburger chain, has been one of the top American companies that has brought diversity to the fore after months of racial justice protests last year.
In February, the company announced that it would link 15% of executive bonuses to meeting certain goals, including diversity and inclusion goals.
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The move also came after more than 50 former black franchisee owners of the company sued McDonald's, accusing the company of treating white owners more favorably and that franchises in low-income neighborhoods weren't that big. profitable and were more difficult to manage.
The majority of McDonald's stores - about 95% - are franchises.
McDonald's has denied the allegations, and a federal judge dismissed one of the lawsuits in June.
In a memo to employees earlier this year, Kempczinski acknowledged that customers, entrepreneurs who run franchises and shareholders demand a high level of demand from McDonald's.
"We cannot be complacent in our efforts to improve and improve our communities. Few brands in the world have our size and reach," he wrote.
