Burger King workers write 'we all quit' on sign, walk out of Nebraska restaurant

[Omaha Steve]

Source: KIRO

By Jared Leone,

LINCOLN, Neb. — Employees and a general manager at a Nebraska Burger King quit amid deteriorating work conditions and used the restaurant’s sign to let customers know.

“We all quit,” the sign at the Lincoln Burger King read. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Rachael Flores, who had served as general manager since January, had put in her two weeks notice and eight other employees also did so shortly before deciding to post the message on the sign, KLKN reported.

“They have gone through so many district managers since I’ve been GM,” Flores said. “No one has come to the store to help me out. They’re so in and out.”

Link to tweet

Read more: https://www.kiro7.com/news/trending/burger-king-workers-write-we-all-quit-sign-walk-out-nebraska-restaurant/RFVDTRRI3ZCDZIFV4URYQZEH3Q/

[msongs]

1. "they're so in and out..." lol. dreadful burger king should change to in and out nt

[AZLD4Candidate]

24. In and Out PAYS their employees, gives benefits even to part timers

and their burgers are fantastic!

[Sherman A1]

2. Good for them!

A good way to go out from a thankless and very likely underpaid job.

[NJCher]

3. BK is undergoing hard times right now

I read a lengthy article on them last night. One of their bigger problems is a lack of coherency in their marketing.

[Gregory Peccary]

4. Well yeah there is that, and their food tastes like shit

[ShazzieB]

8. Some of the food wasn't bad.

I used to be addicted to their Tendercrisp chicken sandwich until they suddenly took it off the menu. I hardly ever go there now.

[Javaman]

44. ...

[MontanaMama]

6. Their commercials featuring the super creepy

king with the oversized plastic head...I mean, what focus group advised this was a good marketing ploy? He gives me the willies.

[smb]

35. Who Thought An Auton Would Be A Good Mascot? nt

[NurseJackie]

11. Cold and dry (but overcooked) burgers, stale bread, wilted lettuce, pithy tomatoes...

Cold and dry (but overcooked) burgers, stale bread, wilted lettuce, pithy tomatoes (ie: frozen and thawed) and SLOW-SLOW drive thru service is what you'll find in my area. (Even slower than Hardee's)

[Dakota Flint]

14. A good, but now departed, friend always referred to them as "Burger Puke."

[NurseJackie]

15. I used to like their chicken sandwich... even though it was processed and formed chicken meat (?)

I used to like their chicken sandwich... even though it was processed and formed chicken meat (?) it was still quite tasty. But that's gone downhill too. It's kept in the warmer too long and it goes dry.

I used to like their "Whaler" fish sandwich and their "chopped steak" patty sandwich. (I think both were discontinued in the late 70s.)

[AZLD4Candidate]

25. They are doing better overseas than here

Malaysia, they are wildly popular
China, they are almost as plentiful as Starbucks and McDonald's

[Auggie]

5. It's common practice for corporate entities to own dozens, even hundreds of franchises

I did some brief marketing work for such a LLC that owned over 200 Burger King restaurants in California and Louisiana. The restaurants (and of course the employees) were just numbers on a spreadsheet. The owners were Class-A douchebags, by the way, and made fun of their food and customers in internal memos and videos.

To be fair, some franchisees work their butts off to make a go of it. But others don't give a damn.

[Sgent]

12. I think the franchise

as a concept really deteriorates after 3-4 stores. At some point it becomes better to just make them all corporate stores so all incentives are aligned. BK specifically has had some epic battles between large franchisee's and corporate.

[Auggie]

21. I agree

Many, many moons ago, when I frequented fast food joints like B.K. and McPuke, the differences from franchise to franchise could be striking.

[NJCher]

30. My experience with McD's was different

but this was many, many years ago. The franchisees in NY were sophisticated businessmen who also owned other types of companies, like fashion brand names.

They were treated as "partners" by McDonald's corporate.

One corporate marketing manager for a multi-unit chain had a number of degrees, one of which was a law degree. He was good at numbers and we often turned to him for his take on a particular campaign or direction in which we considered going.

I was the marketing manager on the corporate side. We depended on agencies: advertising, PR, sales promotion, and specialized agencies for the Hispanic and African American markets. The agencies had to present their plans to groups of franchisees. It really was a group-run organization, very democratic, in which everyone played a part.

We won a lot of awards each year for PR and marketing. I was always getting calls from recruiters for jobs.

[Grokenstein]

31. The guys at my local BK were great.

The manager always said "hi," even if it was from the back when he was busy. He and most of the staff were Hispanic, which resulted in some customer hostility (both in online reviews and face-to-face) in addition to the usual bad customer behavior, but the manager never lost his cool. They were doing bang-up business in the drive-thru both morning and evening rush hours, but apparently COVID hurt the rest of their business badly.

After a couple of weeks away, I stopped in one Sunday night and he told me they were abruptly closing for good that very evening--mine would probably be the last order--and that he was glad he could tell me in person rather than just "vanishing" on me. I damn near cried, and not because I'd have to go elsewhere for a burger. All I could do was wish everyone luck.

[Auggie]

39. You had one of the good ones, I guess: employees and managers who cared.

[Evolve Dammit]

32. Not even an American co. Owned by European corporation.

[Auggie]

38. Wiki: 3G Capital (hedge fund) in Brazil owns 71% of Burger King

and Restaurant Brands International of Ontario Canada owns the rest. What Euro company are you referring to?

[Evolve Dammit]

40. It probably has changed multiple times since I read that over a decade ago. Grand Met? I think

[Auggie]

41. I believe ownership did change hands several times (another reason to avoid big fast food).

[Evolve Dammit]

42. Most big companies near us are owned by international conglomerates (grocery, utilities). Used to

be US companies, but not anymore. I've been to companies that skeletel crews were training their replacement workers from China, Israel and others. One was being liquidated by Bain Holding, one of Romney's ventures. They just want to cash in. All the local hardware stores, lumber yards, pharmacies are gone. All big box stores and very few US co's, unless small. Then they get gobbled up.

[Auggie]

43. Spot on

[ace3csusm]

7. I stop eating their after their Tax inversion scheme, havent been their since...

Fast food chain Burger King will avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxes

[link:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tax-burgerking/burger-king-to-save-millions-in-u-s-taxes-in-inversion-study-idUSKBN0JP0CI20141211|

[erronis]

10. Great article from 2014. Copying the text below since it is important.

Burger King to save millions in U.S. taxes in 'inversion': study

By Kevin Drawbaugh

3 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fast food chain Burger King will avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. taxes if, as planned, it completes its pending buyout of Canadian coffee-and-doughnuts chain Tim Hortons, a tax activist group said on Thursday.
The logo of a Burger King fast food restaurant is seen at the chain's branch in Hanau, August 29, 2014. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

In one of the most notable of several corporate tax “inversion” deals this year, Florida-based Burger King announced in late August it would buy Tim Hortons and put the headquarters of the combined company in Canada.

U.S. companies doing inversions - which involve buying a foreign company and assuming its tax nationality to cut overall tax costs - have been blasted as tax dodgers by Democrats and liberal groups. President Barack Obama has criticized a “herd mentality” by companies seeking deals to escape U.S. taxes.

In a report that Burger King described as “flawed,” Americans for Tax Fairness, a group often critical of corporations over taxes, said the fast-food chain’s inversion “creates substantial tax avoidance opportunities.”

For instance, it said, by placing its headquarters in Canada so it is no longer a U.S. company for tax purposes, Burger King could avoid $117 million in U.S. taxes by never having to pay corporate income tax on foreign profits it holds offshore.

The group said Burger King’s future foreign profits would no longer be subject to U.S. income taxes. That could save the company about $275 million from 2015 to 2018, based on a range of Wall Street earnings projections, it said.

Burger King said in a statement: “The analysis in the report is materially flawed and the figures do not accurately represent our facts and circumstances. As we’ve said all along, this transaction is driven by growth, not tax rates. Going forward, we do not expect our tax rate to change materially.”

A company spokesman declined to respond point-by-point to the report. The spokesman said the Burger King-Tim Hortons transaction will be completed on Friday.

Tim Hortons said on Tuesday its shareholders approved the deal, with the combined company to be called Restaurant Brands International. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

The report said Burger King is a top food supplier to the U.S. armed forces and its “decision to become a Canadian company will mean that while U.S. military families support Burger King by buying its food, Burger King will no longer support service members by paying its fair share of taxes.”

[Delphinus]

33. Whoa!

I don't ever recall hearing about that!

[Midnight Writer]

9. The thing with a low wage job like this is they can go down the street and get another tomorrow.

There is no incentive to stay loyal to your job, no incentive to work harder or to be responsible, no incentive not to walk out.

I read Fast Food Nation some years ago, and it said the average duration of a fast food job is less than three months, and a franchise will see a complete turnover of staff every six months.

It seems to me it would be more profitable to hire workers at higher pay than your competitors, and retain a staff that is better trained, more experienced, and personally vested in doing good work.

[Piasladic]

13. constantly being in and out makes it hard to complain/ get organized

heard about stuff like this on Maddow when she was talking about how Amazon workers turn over. It's apparently a feature not a bug.

[Midnight Writer]

17. There is a family owned pizza place near me. They pay twice what the fast food joints do.

There are people working there that have been there for decades.

They greet many customers by name, take pride in their work, and the family management treat their workers with respect.

This place has expanded from a two man carry-out operation 50 years ago to a multiple dining room complex with more than 60 employees.

They are also involved in local events, like giving a free pizza feast to winning Little League teams. I volunteered for our local food pantry collection drive for many years, and every year their van would show up with dozens of free pizzas they would give to the volunteers. They sponsor the Summer Music Festival, the Fourth of July celebration, fund-raisers for folks with problems. Their lobby has a huge bulletin board with scheduled local events, and you can bet their van full of free pizza will show up at them all.

Consequently, they have a very loyal customer base. For a lot of families and local workers, it is a regular stop.

With all this, they are cheaper than the chain pizza places in the area, and put out a consistently superior product. A lot of folks won't go anywhere else for pizza and subs.

That is how fast food should work. Everybody gets paid, and the owners do quite well.

P. S. They also hire a lot of handicapped people.

[Piasladic]

19. God, that's great

I'd probably live at a table there if I were near. Sometimes, I get a bit jaded, but stories like yours fill me with hope.

The next time you are there, tell them they're fantastic for me.

[NJCher]

29. that sounds like the European model

for a restaurant operation.

In Italy, for example, the positions of waiter, sous chef, etc. are held in high regard.

It is a true profession over there.

American greed has turned this profession into shambles.

[drray23]

36. Same is true in France. nt.

[NJCher]

28. wasn't that an amazing story?

There may not be enough people in the world to cover Amazon's turnover!!

[MichMan]

22. That is probably why Chick Fil A does so well

Their employees appear to be very happy working there

[Deminpenn]

26. Not necessarily so easy these days with every business begging for

workers.

But turnover is very common in retail of all types. There are exceptions like CostCo and Aldi, but they don't have much company.

[twodogsbarking]

16. Have it your way.

They did.

[heckles65]

18. Oh crap

now they're going to ruin Tim Horton's coffee and donuts. Another Canadian brand ruined by the Yanks.

(Full disclosure: I live in New England but normally go to Canada a lot.)

[Wednesdays]

23. They were a failure in Michigan

When traveling thru Michigan in 2019, we stopped at a Tim Hortons. Not bad. They were plentiful in Michigan at the time. Since then, they've shuttered most if not all the stores.

[ProfessorGAC]

27. I Used To Stop At Horton's In Ontario

Their breakfast sandwiches were quite good and coffee was fine.
As to the donuts, I'm one of the weirdos who like plain, cake donuts.
I thought their plain donut was too sweet. Not awful, but not my taste.

[Stuart G]

20. Thak You for the post...K and R...Also, Thank You for All The Work You Do for......

those of us that show up to DU ........day after day after day after day after day after day....

Your Posts are ...Greatly Appreciated..........Thanks Again...to... Omaha Steve!!!!

[spike jones]

34. General Strike.

The general resistance to go back to the workplace after home working, due to the virus, and the lack of available workers that will work for less than a living wage, this is very much what a General Strike would look like.

[ShepKat]

37. won't go there again

their cheese won't melt. It's basically plastic. yukko blech.