Chipotle staff airs grievances with chain as stock drops

Chipotle Mexican Grill can’t catch a break these days.

Just as the embattled burrito-and-taco chain this week rolled out a new rewards program and menu items aimed at winning back customers, some employees on Thursday claimed stores are understaffed.

As a result, the employees said, customers are receiving poor service.

The employee bellyaching started several weeks ago when a Massachusetts worker started a petition on coworker.org that has garnered 275 signatures from Chipotle employees in 31 states.

In all, nearly 1,000 supporters have joined the employees cause.

The Denver-based chain has seen its shares tumble 33 percent in the last year after E. coli and norovirus outbreaks last year sickened customers.

That led customers to stay away from Chipotle locations and management to reduce staffers’ hours.

Daniris Pacheco, who started the petition, claims Chipotle never restored employee hours after business picked up — leaving restaurants ill-prepared to provide satisfactory customer service.

“What used to be a two-person job shifted to a one-person nightmare,” Pacheco wrote in her petition, adding, “Many of our top performers left to find jobs that appreciate their hard work.”

Another Chipotle employee, a Colorado general manager who did not want to be identified, said that employees’ hours were pared back to 18 hours from 35 a week after the food crisis. Few hours have been added since, the GM said.

The company did not respond to a query for comment.

Chipotle shares closed Thursday at $402.76, down 1.6 percent.