The McDonald’s sign beckoned as Rosa Franco and Mario Franco stood at the food court in the Darien service plaza on Interstate 95, ready to start their work shifts. They each hugged two union organizers before heading behind the counter.
Rosa and Mario, who are not related, have worked at McDonald’s a long time, including as shift supervisors — 15 years for her, 25 for him — but Monday night was not just another stint on the job.
This was their triumphant return after a Dec. 30 order by a federal administrative law judge who ruled the McDonald’s franchise owner, Michell Enterprises, had violated labor laws by failing to rehire them and two others after the coronavirus shutdown in March, 2020 — because of their union organizing activity.
Two years out of jobs they wanted back.
Two years in which they started near the bottom of the American Dream ladder and fell further, making ends meet with irregular cleaning and laborer jobs, borrowing from friends, relying on family members with work and eating into what little savings they had.
Now they return with an order for back pay, more than $100,000 in total for Franco, Franco and the two others in the case at the Darien northbound I-95 McD’s.
Rosa Franco laughed out loud describing the long, painful wait for justice. “That’s life,” she explained with the voice of someone who has seen tough times as an immigrant from Mexico with three children, now ages 16 to 22.
“Buenas noches! Buenas noches!”...
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