Mass Layoffs and Workplace Precarity: The Harsh Reality of Papa John’s Chile

Original article: Despidos bajo amenaza: Este sería el crudo rostro de Papa John’s Chile

Workers are raising alarms about a culture of precarious employment, inadequate equipment, and harassment against those demanding decent working conditions.

A narrative of technical negligence and workplace harassment has come to light following complaints from Carolina Quevedo and the Papa John’s Chile Union. The situation, which began with the dismissal of a mother threatened with losing custody of her child, escalated to reveal questionable working conditions in various locations across the Metropolitan Region. Here, the safety of both workers and customers appears to be secondary to their shift managers.

Carolina Quevedo, who claims she took on the management of stores with critical management issues, described cutting equipment with safety mechanisms replaced with pens and products being pushed by hand due to the lack of levers. «The cold storage furniture and snack boxes were filled with mold, and the ladders lacked anti-slip grips; I don’t understand why this wasn’t reported sooner,» said the former employee, asserting that her attempts to correct these deficiencies were met with hostility from her superiors.

The conflict intensified when Quevedo, relying on Article 22 of the Labor Code, began working over 75 hours a week to reverse poor performance metrics inherited from friends of the management. Despite achieving unprecedented sales goals, she was met with intimidation, as she was told, «If you want to keep your job, keep your mouth shut.» This was the response she received after revealing that her predecessor left stores without alarms, personal protective equipment, and with severe health code violations.

The harassment peaked on January 9 of this year when Carolina’s son, who had been accompanying her since 2021 due to a lack of caregivers, was used as an excuse to force her resignation. According to Quevedo, her supervisor pressured her to sign a voluntary resignation, claiming, «If you don’t resign, you’ll have your papers stained, and I hinted that child protective services could get involved due to exploitation; my fear of losing my son made me sign,» she maintains.

Francisco De Abreu, treasurer of the Papa John’s Workers’ Union, reported that the operation runs under a logic of «nepotism,» where managers are protected from harassment claims while those adhering to regulations face punishment. «The company defended its position by claiming the girl voluntarily resigned and denied any threats, questioning the word of a mother who sacrificed everything to improve those stores,» he stated, viewing the situation as a pattern of gender discrimination and punishment against female leadership.

The accusation also points to a troubling lack of quality control, as Quevedo claims to have found expired food items in locations overseen by friends of the market management team. «They worked with fermented dough and spoiled vegetables; if a customer complains, they receive a one peso coupon for a free pizza, and that’s how they cover up the issue,» asserted the former store manager, who currently has more than 30 witnesses for her legal claim, which is set for a hearing on March 26.

Currently, the union and affected workers demand that Papa John’s recognize the «acquired rights» of working mothers and cease coercive practices. Carolina Quevedo seeks to have her forced resignation annulled and her compensation for years of service acknowledged after dedicating her personal, holiday, and vacation time to a company that, in her words, «used what I love the most to strike me when my management became inconvenient for them,» she emphasized.

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