Rat infestation at Oakland McDonald's restaurant prompts workers to strike
OAKLAND — Workers at an Oakland McDonald's walked out on the job after they have endured conditions that sent them scurrying.
According to a CAL-OSHA complaint, employees at the McDonalds on the corner of 14th and Jackson have reported months of rat infestations that they say have only gotten worse.
For employee Oscar Ramirez, he spent his shifts serving customers at the drive-thru where he now tapes notices demanding immediate changes to their working conditions, for both employees and customers.
"I feel embarrassed," he told CBS News Bay Area. "What we can do — We can't do anything."
The location was temporarily closed by the health department after the employees reported the scurrying feet of rats, feces and urine, and an indescribable stench of decaying rodents they've endured just to earn a living.
"There are some containers where they put the sauces and sometimes they get into the containers," Ramirez said. "And sometimes you are gonna get like a sauce and a rat comes out."
He along with five other workers from the McDonald's declared a strike until the conditions are professionally cleaned.
Angelica Garcia works in the prep kitchen. She said she has seen rodents darting between appliances.
"The rat problem has progressed since I started my job here," she said in Spanish through a translator. "We've seen dead rats; the smell is terrible. The odor from their feces and urine. It's gotten us to this point where we're now speaking up."
In a complaint letter to OSHA, Garcia explained, "I see rats in the kitchen every day. I see rats in the grill where we make the hamburgers. I've seen rats nibbling on pieces of bacon or on hamburgers that are ready to be sent to the customers.
In the complaint are images of rats on what looks like kitchen equipment, including one rat that appears to be dead and surrounded by blood.
The Employees union also released video of rats scurrying across the kitchen.
The workers are demanding a professional cleaning and want to be paid until the issue is resolved.
CBS News Bay Area reached out to McDonald's on Friday who gave a statement from the location's owner operator that said, "it's very important to me as a small business owner in Oakland that my employees have a safe place to come to work. When we became aware of the issue, we immediately contacted pest control and continue to work with them to address."
KPIX also contacted McDonald's on Tuesday and had not heard back as of 11 p.m.
Oscar said he wants to return to work but has been scarred by what he's seen inside. For now, he's hopeful the workers' voices will finally be heard.