McDonald's workers demand a £10 per hour rate
They plan to strike at Watford high street, Cambridge, Crayford and Manchester sites on May 1st.
The strike has been called by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) despite reports last week the union’s ballot received only 21 votes to strike out of the company’s 120,000 workers.
In Watford, only six workers were eligible to vote in the ballot, with five supporting industrial action. There are 97 McDonald’s employees across the two high-street branches. Altogether, the 21 workers who were eligible to vote within the five stores are set to strike.
The workers are demanding a £10-an-hour wage, a choice in fixed-hour contracts, an end to unequal pay for young workers, and formal recognition of the BFAWU.
Joshua Khan, a McDonald’s worker in Watford, said, “Steve Easterbrook says he’s a Watford lad, yet those of us who work in my store have had enough of poverty pay, zero-hours contracts and lack of respect on the job. He should come and talk to our union. We deserve a wage that means we can live with dignity.”
BFAWU president Ian Hodson added, “We are pleased with the ballot result. The McStrike is growing and on the road to victory. We will be supporting our members in McDonald’s as they take on the world’s second-largest employer. The time for change at McDonald’s is long overdue.”
