http://blog.masslive.com/breakingnews/2007/08/wendys_operator_indicted_on_cr.html

LEAD:

Wendy's franchise operator indicted
Robert Burda, franchisee of 13 area Wendy's that closed abruptly in July, is indicted on 52 charges related to failure to pay employees.

I did not post this story earlier because it was local, but it has been gnawing at me since it broke in July.

Mr. Burda is from Dublin, OH, where the Wendy's fastfood chain is heaquartered.  However, what happened here is not the fault of Wendy's International, but Robert Burda, who owned the 13 franchises. 
Editorial:
http://www.masslive.com/republican/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1186991068267640.xml&coll=1

Also from the AP 8/16/07
Dateline Boston:
The former operator of 13 western Massachusetts Wendy's restaurants is indicted by a Hampden County grand jury for issuing bad checks and failing to pay his workers.

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office says Robert Burda of Dublin, Ohio, and his Chicopee-based company are charged with 10 counts of failing to pay wages.

The good news is Wendy's HQ has agreed to pay these workers what they're owed, even though--they emphasize--they're not legally obliged to do so.  Maybe they're not, but they are certainly feeling political pressure.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-MA) went to bat for the workers.

http://www.masslive.com/business/republican/index.ssf?/base/business-1/118724945721010.xml&coll=1

Of course, the CEO is not going to personally make 350 phone calls.  What Kerry is doing is holding a corporation accountable.  Perhaps now Wendy's HQ will keep an eye on its franchisees.  It is in the interest of both labor and management.  You have 350 people out of work here in the Pioneer Valley because this slimeball didn't pay his taxes.  If you're a libertarian at heart, you might say, "So?  Screw the government and screw the workers."  However, 13 Wendy's restaurants shuttered for the past month also represents a loss for management and investors.  It is also bad PR, which no company wants.  Wendy's had a slogan in the '80s, "Ain't no reason to go anywhere else!"  Now potential customers might feel differently. 

I would not boycott Wendy's.  What happened here in Western Massachusetts is not the result of corporate policy, but the outcome of a crooked businessman's negligence.  Unfortunately, a lot of folks don't know the difference.  On the road and hungry for tasty fried morsels, they will see the Wendy's and say "Oh, they're a bad company," and give their business to McDonald's or KFC instead. 

What made me so angry?  Burda caused real people real hardship.  Not every fastfood employee is a kid working for packet money while mom and dad pay the bills.  A huge percentage of those 350 workers were squeaking by on $8.50 an hour or less.  From what I have read, many do live with their parents, but it's not because they're in high school and headed for college.  They might live "at home," but they still have to pay bills and make car payments.  They're at home because they cannot afford to move out.  Some are couples with children. 

One young man was homeless; that is, he lived in a motel and spent almost all his paycheck on rent.  He was a shift manager making $8.50 an hour full-time.  He had an ex-wife and a daughter in Albany.  He was obliged to them too.  He was hanging on by his fingernails and then this Burda creep takes the money and runs. 

If the Massachusetts AG has anything to say about it, Burda won't get to run far.

However, it is Senator Kerry, he as far from poverty as you can get,  who decided to help get these workers the pay the are owed, and for that I applaud him.
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/12/hello2.gif

For once, someone in Washington is doing something positive? :o

But Kerry did not get the workers the pay they were owed.  Rather he got them donations from Wendy's corporate.

And it was quite bad form trying to "shake down" Corporate in public for the money.  Had he made an overture in private, as a "goodwill gesture" I could see that.  But in the end who was he REALLY working for?  Himself, of course.

But Kerry did not get the workers the pay they were owed.  Rather he got them donations from Wendy's corporate.

And it was quite bad form trying to "shake down" Corporate in public for the money.  Had he made an overture in private, as a "goodwill gesture" I could see that.  But in the end who was he REALLY working for?  Himself, of course.

Yes, Kerry is a politician.  I don't mind a calculated move when it's for the public good. 

This isn't like Jesse Jackson "shaking down" Toyota because of an ad that showed a black guy with a gold tooth. 

The man in charge is a crook. He isn't going to pay anybody anything until the court forces him.  Meanwhile, you've hundreds of people on the poverty margin who can't buy groceries and pay their bills because Burdo's company issued them rubber checks. 

From a corporate standpoint:
The workers didn't hurt Wendy's International
John Kerry didn't hurt Wendy's International
Robert Burdo hurt Wendy's International and Wendy's International hurt themselves because they were asleep at the switch.