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In reply to the discussion: Papa John's CEO John Schnatter Says Company Will Reduce Workers' Hours In Response To Obamacare [View all]Bibliovore
(185 posts)I received a same-day response from Papa John's. Here it is, slightly anonymized, followed by my reply:
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{Firstname uncapitalizedlastname} {firstlastnumber}@gmail.com
to me, {cc: someone with a Yahoo account}
Hello
Thank you for your comments. We are a locally owned franchise of Papa Johns Pizza and,as operator of our franchise, I am very proud of the owners, my staff, and our {City uncapitalizedstate} stores. We are not part of corporate Papa Johns International and we do not reflect any political views of John Schnatter. In fact, we focus on the community and giving back to local organizations and school groups only. We do not affiliate with any political group intentionally. Most of our fundraising is for the kids.
I understand that many people have strong political views and I am glad that more people spend the time to educate themselves on the real issues though. I wish that you would continue to patron our restaurant, but I do understand your stance.
Best wishes
{First Last}
Director of Operations
Bajco 100, LLC dba Papa John's Pizza
812-{phone number}
Fax 812-{fax number}
{firstlastnumber}@gmail.com
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Thank you for your response. I appreciate that my local Papa John's restaurants are not part of Papa John's International, but do they not pay franchise fees to the parent corporation? If the parent corporation says to limit workers to fewer than 30 hours per week to avoid having to offer them benefits, would these locations comply?
You say you are locally owned, but the phone and fax number in your signature block have an Indiana area code, and the company name you list, Bajco 100 LLC, is not based in my town and proclaims buying Papa John's restaurants throughout and outside of the United States:
http://www.bajco.net/
I tried looking up how Papa John's franchises operate, and found this:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/buy-papa-johns-pizza-franchise-40892.html
"The fees cover an initial $25,000 franchise cost for each restaurant you open. In addition, you pay 5 percent of monthly net sales to Papa John's in royalty and 7 percent of monthly net sales to fund both national and local marketing."
This site outlines additional fees:
http://www.franchisedirect.com/foodfranchises/papa-johns-franchise-07050/ufoc/
If these are accurate, part of every purchase from the local franchise goes to the parent company.
I am glad to hear that the local Papa John's restaurants contribute to the local community, and we enjoy the food. But I have no wish to support a company that threatens to screw over its workers to make a political statement.
If John Schnatter rescinds his worker threat, I will happily begin ordering from Papa John's again, for home, work, and organizational meals. I will do so even if the pizza price is slightly higher to cover health insurance costs.
If he does not, then if my local Papa John's ever drops the chain to become a different restaurant, or if its owners close their Papa John's and open a separate restaurant that does not try to pull political shenanigans, I would love to be notified, and I will be glad to frequent that new business.
Best wishes,
{me}