Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE WANT MORE
First UK strike at Mcdonald’s Corbyn backs workers’ fight
MCDONALD’S faces its first-ever UK strike today as workers walk out over pay and conditions.
Dozens of staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, amid concerns about working conditions and zero-hours contracts.
They plan to mount earlymorning picket lines before holding a rally in Westminster.
The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union wants at least a £10 hourly wage and more secure hours for employees.
National president Ian Hodson said: “We fully support the historic decision by these brave workers to stand up and fight back against Mcdonald’s.
“For far too long, workers in fast food restaurants such as Mcdonald’s have had to deal with poor working conditions, drastic cuts to employee hours and even bullying.”
SOLIDARITY
About 300 of an estimated 85,000 UK Mcdonald’s workers are BFAWU members. It is expected that about 40 staff at two branches in Cambridge and in Crayford, South East London, will join the strike.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “Our party offers support and solidarity to the brave Mcdonald’s workers.”
Mcdonald’s British-born chief executive Steve Easterbrook was paid nearly £12million in salary, stock and bonuses last year. The company said in April that staff would be offered fixed hours but 86% have chosen to stay on flexible contracts.
A spokesman said: “Less than 0.01% of our workforce are intending to strike in two of our 1,270 UK restaurants.
“The dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures.”
MCDONALD’S paying many of its staff barely more than the legally-stipulated minimum wage means there is nothing glittering about working under the American giant’s golden arches.
Today’s historic walkouts by workers at two UK stores reflect wider anger over poor earnings and tell us far more about growing public discontent than any internal survey.
Employees can ill afford to lose their meagre pay by going on strike but they are clearly not, to borrow a marketing campaign, “lovin’ it” on low pay with uncertain hours of work.
Unless the fast food firm sits down with them and their union representatives, we may discover walkouts are frequently on the menu.