After months of negotiations to try to get the American Five Guys restaurant chain to act on sexual harassment claims, Swiss IUF affiliate UNIA has decided that the only way forward is legal action and is supporting a former worker to sue Five Guys in the labour court. She suffered verbal abuse by some of her male colleagues over an extended period which escalated into a physical assault by a co-worker. She is suing her former employer for failing to take its legal responsibilities to protect her and has requested that the hearings be public to bring attention to the widespread problem.
- The harassment was raised several years ago by women workers in Five Guys but the company refused to take adequate measures to stop sexual harassment or to offer remediation to those affected
- ILO Convention 190 stipulates that employers must ensure workplaces are free from gender-based violence and harassment. The IUF’s fast food workers campaign highlights that precarious working conditions for a workforce mainly composed of women and young workers feed unequal power relationships and create a systemic problem of sexual harassment in the sector
- In 2022, IUF staff and affiliates demonstrated in Geneva in favour of adding the right to safe and healthy workplace to the ILO fundamental principles and rights at work. Fast food workers from Brazil, United States, Serbia and Switzerland testified to the appalling working conditions and the sexual harassment endemic in the fast food industry
- According to the Swiss Federal Bureau for equality between women and men, half of all workers will experience sexual harassment at least one time during their career.
Apolline Anor, UNIA, said “Several years ago, Jessica and a number of her colleagues came to the union to complain about the systematic sexual harassment they had been suffering for months from most of their male colleagues. It was a serious and unacceptable situation. We negotiated for months with management to get them to take measures commensurate with the seriousness of the situation, but they never did. Hence the start of the legal proceedings.”
