Staff at McDonald’s Cambridge and Crayford branches are undertaking strike action today (Monday 4 September) in a dispute over pay and conditions.
The 24-hour strike, which began at midnight at the two specified restaurants, was arranged after 95.7% of the 40 staff members balloted by the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) voted in favour of strike action in August 2017.
The dispute relates to pay, zero-hours contracts, and working conditions. Staff at the Cambridge and Crayford McDonald’s stores are calling for a £10 an hour minimum wage, an end to zero-hours contracts by the end of the year, improved working conditions, and the recognition of their right to join or form a trade union.
The action forms part of the Fast Food Rights Campaign, which developed out of the Fast Food Global movement, a global campaign that seeks to improve wages for employees working in the fast food industry in countries such as the US and UK.
Ian Hodson, national president at the BFAWU, said: “For the first time in UK history, McDonald’s workers and supporters of our movement will step out from the dark shadow of impoverishment cast by Ronald McDonald’s golden arches, and call for the rights they are entitled to; a £10 an hour minimum wage, secure employment contracts, and the recognition of their right to join a trade union.
“For far too long, McDonald’s [has] taken advantage of its [employees], taken away their voice, and taken away their freedoms. But this abhorrent behaviour can go on no longer, and it won’t. [They’re] facing a global movement; whether it’s here in the UK, the US, Brazil, New Zealand, you name it. Workers are standing up. The fight for fairness has only just begun.”
McDonald’s was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.