Chipotle to pay $240K to former Augusta workers who formed union
Courtesy / Chipotle United
Chipotle United members last June, celebrating outside the Augusta store after serving their union petition to the management.
Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. (NYSE: CMG) has agreed to pay $240,000 to former employees of the shuttered Augusta location as part of a settlement for allegedly closing the restaurant in the middle of a union organizing drive last July.
The settlement, announced by the Maine AFL-CIO and confirmed by the Newport Beach, Calif.-based restaurant chain, follows a finding by the National Labor Relations Board that Chipotle prevented employees from being hired at other Maine locations after closing the Augusta location.
Chipotle denies any wrongdoing.
The Augusta employees were the first Chipotle workers in the country to file for union recognition to bargain for safer working conditions, better staffing and representation. Since then, Chipotle workers in Lansing, Mich., voted for union representation, and workers in Lawrence, Kan., also reportedly have been attempting to organize.
Brandi McNease, a former Augusta Chipotle employee and lead organizer of the Chipotle United union, told Mainebiz that 24 former employees are covered by the settlement, and that she's among a handful of affected staffers who will be going to another store.
“This isn't just a victory for Chipotle United. It's a win for food service workers across the country,” she said in a Monday news release. “It sends a message to corporations that shutting down a store and blackballing workers didn't work for Chipotle and it won't work for them either.”
Under the terms of the settlement, affected employees will receive between $5,800 and $21,000, depending on their average number of hours worked, pay rate and longevity prior to the store closure. Chipotle will offer preferential rehire to all Augusta employees at other Maine locations for up to one year.
In addition, Chipotle will post a notice in about 40 stores in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont saying it will not close stores or discriminate on the basis of union support. Chipotle’s Maine locations are in Auburn, Bangor, Portland, Saco, South Portland and Westbrook.
Jeffrey Neil Young, an attorney with Solidarity Law in Cumberland who represented Chipotle United throughout the organizing drive, called the settlement a victory for Chipotle workers everywhere.
“While we did not force Chipotle to reopen the store, we won substantial gains for workers,” he said. “Not all of the workers have secured work elsewhere, and offering them preferential rehiring rights as well as substantial back pay helps remedy Chipotle’s blatant union-busting."
Chipotle's response
Chipotle confirmed the settlement without commenting on the terms.
“We settled this case not because we did anything wrong, but because the time, energy and cost to litigate would have far outweighed the settlement agreement,” Laurie Schalow, the company’s chief corporate affairs officer, said in a statement emailed to Mainebiz. “We respect our employees’ rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act and are committed to ensuring a fair and just work environment that provides opportunities to all."
She also noted that the company provides workers with “industry-leading benefits” as well as transparent career progression.
Chipotle had revenue of $8.6 billion in 2022, up 14.4% over the previous year, and opened 236 new restaurants in 2022, the highest number in six years, the company reported on Feb. 7. The company, led by CEO Brian Niccol, is due to report first-quarter results on April 25.
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