The settlement payouts — which are based on pay rates, average hours and seniority — will range between $5,800 to more than $21,000 to each of the affected employees. “This isn’t just a victory for Chipotle United. It’s a win for food service workers across the country,” said Brandi McNease, a former Augusta Chipotle employee and lead organizer of the Chipotle United union.
“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,” the chain said in a statement Monday. “We respect our employees’ rights to organize under the National Labor Relations Act.” McNease told CNN on Monday, however, that she believes “there was no good reason for them to shut down that store.
That’s nowhere NEAR enough.