18 employees quit Wendy’s on the same day for being overworked and underpaid

A Wendy's manager and 17 of his colleagues quit together after being paid poor wages and having no support from upper management. Workers in the service industry put their health and lives at risk by turning up at work to keep the businesses afloat but far too many have been paid poor wages and no benefits. Done with being exploited, workers are quitting en masse across various industries in what is being dubbed as The Great Resignation. Wendy's employees and the manager quitting on the same day is just another example of the poor working conditions meted out to workers across the country, reported Bored Panda.

The manager, who goes by mintjuul.666 on TikTok posted a video explaining how the restaurant had no support from upper management throughout his time there. At the start of the pandemic, he had taken over as manager after his assistant general manager, general manager, and six coworkers had quit as they "realized how shit it was." He worked as a shift manager before being promoted to an assistant general manager (AGM) position. He was now working 85-hour workweeks with no days off and was making just $14.77 an hour. The video has gone viral after it was shared on Twitter by Josh Miller-Lewis, former creative director and digital communications director for Bernie Sanders.

The former Wendy's AGM said that upper management sent someone to replace him as AGM. "She came in and completely ruined this place in two weeks. The 34 people who I had on my schedule all wanted to quit. I was tired of it. No upper management helped me throughout those three months. I did it all alone," he said, before adding that he decided to call it quits. "I couldn't do it anymore and I told everyone. Me and 17 others quit that night," he said. 

The employees of Wendy's received overwhelming support in the comments section. "Glad you left. I used to be an AGM at Taco Bell and upper management never listened and treated us like garbage. They don't care how hard you work," commented one person. "I wanna leave so badly. The job I have overworks the hell out of the little people they have and still wonder why people leave," wrote one person. "Damn. Three months of hard work for nothing. They used you. Glad you moved on."

The service industry has been hit with an acute worker shortage with many are labeling workers as being 'too lazy' and 'entitled' but in truth, businesses are refusing to pay workers a living wage despite making humongous profits. Many businesses that have increased their employees' wages have suffered from no worker shortage. As we reported, a burger joint in Kent, Washington was fully functioning and running without any hiccups as they offer $20 an hour to its employees. Dick's Drive-in is fully-staffed and highlighted that the actual issue with the service industry was poor wages. 

Author Kurt Eichenwald recently explained on Twitter that years of exploiting workers had caught up with the American economy, leading to the 'The Great Resignation." He explained that workers no longer had faith in the system. Eichenwald said the American dream ended at work, with a majority not being able to live a happy life. "Instead, the greed culture has turned work for millions into just a means of survival, with wages stagnant, healthcare unaffordable, insurance, treated as a luxury, paid free time an impossibility, children unaffordable, homes a dream. Yes, work is important — but not without the promise of a future. Many young people see nothing but 40 years of the same, further enriching the obscenely rich," he wrote.  

Eichenwald added that workers were realizing that they might actually be better off than being stuck in a vicious loop of exploitation by businesses. "They have the choice of just saying 'forget it, I'm going to work on my painting or sewing or whatever, I am tired of being abused by my supervisor, I am tired of being screamed at by customers for things out of my control, I am tired of watching adults throw temper tantrums and then being balled out by my company because I could have handled it better. I can survive without all of this. I can be happier without all of this. I am paid so little, my life won't be that different," he wrote, before adding, "THAT is why we have the Great Resignation."