IFA Responds to Union-Led Protests at Franchise Restaurants Nationwide

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Contact:

Matthew Haller, 202-662-0770

Jenna Weisbord, 202-662-0766

mhaller@franchise.org

jweisbord@franchise.org


IFA RESPONDS TO UNION-LED PROTESTS AT FRANCHISE RESTAURANTS NATIONWIDE


WASHINGTON, Sept. 3, 2014—International Franchise Association President & CEO Steve Caldeira, CFE, released the following statement in advance of scheduled protests at franchise restaurants organized by labor unions and led by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) advocating for an increase in the minimum wage.


“The national protests for a higher minimum wage are much more than meet the eye. The organizers of the protests have self-interest, not public-interest, as their central aim. The Service Employees International Union and its affiliates have staged and sponsored many of these protests over the past two years under the guise of trying to help the working poor — and just this past Labor Day, Mary Kay Henry, the President of the SEIU flew on Air Force One with the President prior to a speech he delivered in Milwaukee, Wis. where he mentioned the fast-food campaign — a campaign that is clearly part of an overt effort to undermine franchising. The protest’s focus on franchises is part of a special interest play by the SEIU. It would be wrong to allow the SEIU and its affiliates to hide behind an altruistic plea for higher wages when what they really want is a shortcut to refill their steadily dwindling membership ranks and coffers.  


“The not-so-subtle subtext to the call for a higher minimum wage is the union’s effort to persuade federal, state and local governments to declare that franchised businesses are joint employers ignoring the fact that they are individually-owned, local small businesses. The SEIU’s Henry says the franchise relationship is a smokescreen so corporations don’t have to take responsibility for paying more to the employees of franchisees. The real reason for the protests is that the unions believe they’ll have an easier time organizing a large entity compared to trying to unionize thousands of separate businesses. The fact of the matter is that the definition of a joint employer has been the same for over 30 years, through both Republican and Democratic administrations, and that is because this definition has been a time-tested and proven business model in the franchising industry, and other important job-creating industries as well. When you boil this all down, it’s really about the unions being hypocritical and greedy by exploiting proposals meant to support fast food workers to enrich themselves.”  


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About the International Franchise Association

The International Franchise Association is the world’s oldest and largest organization representing franchising worldwide. Celebrating over 50 years of excellence, education and advocacy, IFA works through its government relations and public policy, media relations and educational programs to protect, enhance and promote franchising. Through its media awareness campaign highlighting the theme, Franchising: Building Local Businesses, One Opportunity at a Time, IFA promotes the economic impact of the more than 825,000 franchise establishments, which support nearly 18 million jobs and $2.1 trillion of economic output for the U.S. economy. IFA members include franchise companies in over 300 different business format categories, individual franchisees and companies that support the industry in marketing, law and business development.


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Phone: +1 202/628-8000    Fax: +1 202/628-0812     www.franchise.org

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