Just minutes after yesterday's protest in New York by striking workers, McDonald's announced that the franchise owner accused of exploiting temporary workers in the country on J-1 visas will be selling his three stores and will no longer be associated with the company, the Nation's Josh Eidelson reports. The workers from Latin America and Asia who worked at the Pennsylvania fast-food restaurants allege that store owner Andy Cheung provided them with sub-standard employer-owned housing to live in, forced them to work shifts of up to 25 consecutive hours and threatened them with retaliation if they complained or refused to work.

Following a strike last week at several Pennsylvania franchisee locations, McDonald's workers will rally in New York on Thursday and announce a March 26 mobilization outside the corporation's Chicago headquarters. The workers are students in the United States on J-1 visas from Asia and Latin America who say they were given sub-standard employer-owned housing to live in, shifts of up to 25 consecutive hours and were threatened with retaliation if they complained or refused to work. The National Guestworker Alliance has been working closely with the students.