Chipotle Restaurants, based in Denver and headed by Steve Ells, a judge on a
recent NBC show (America’s Next Great Restaurant), is under investigation for
massive hiring of undocumented workers. I think undocumented workers should
have full employment rights and be granted immediate amnesty. The chain, which
has 1,084 restaurants and sales of $1.8 billion, currently employs 27,000
workers but has a turnover rate of about 100 percent a year. It plans to hire
100,000 workers over the next three years. Draw your own conclusions as to what
this might tell us about wages, working conditions, unpaid wages when workers
quit, and so forth. A Reuters story says that "Denver-based Chipotle has won
plaudits from Wall Street for its seemingly uncanny ability to hold down labor
costs. That ability has been a major factor behind its six-fold increase in
share price since late 2008."
The company has a "finely honed image as a progressive restaurant operator." As
one industry analyst said, "Their whole branding strategy is a company that
does things right — healthful foods, humane treatment of animals, progressive
procedures." Ells once said, "We decided long ago that we didn't want
Chipotle's success to be tied to the exploitation of animals, farmers, or the
environment, but the engagement of our customers." No mention here of the
workers! Ells went to school in Boulder, Colorado, and this sounds a lot like
the liberal claptrap we’d here so often when we lived there. See denverpost.com
for details.
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