Wetherspoons, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays workers to strike over pay
The 'McStrike' by the the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) is set for October 4
WORKERS at McDonald's, Wetherspoons and TGI Fridays are planning a strike over low pay.
The "McStrike" by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) is set for October 4 as fast food staff fight to be paid £10 an hour.
The striking workers will stage a rally in Leicester Square as they call for more secure working conditions on top of extra pay.
JD Wetherspoon told the that it had recently given workers a pay rise while McDonald's told The Sun that only a few staff members are walking out.
TGI Fridays has not yet commented.
Unionised workers from two JD Wetherspoons pubs in Brighton - The Bright Helm and The Post & Telegraph - McDonald's in Brixton, Crayford, Cambridge and Watford, as well as TGI Fridays workers in Milton Keynes, Covent Garden and Stratford are all planning to strike.
Wetherspoons told The Sun that both the pubs involved with the strike would both be open as normal, and McDonald's also said the action would not affect its branches.
Why are fast food workers striking?
This is why staff at some Wetherspoons, McDonald's and TGI Fridays branches are walking out on October 4:
- TGI Fridays: Workers at Milton Keynes, Covent Garden and Stratford restaurants are striking over low pay and not being able to take home their own tips. They're also walking out because they claim the company refuses to listen to their concerns about a change to their tip policy that left them £250 worse off. They also want to challenge what they describe as "unfair practices" in the company.
- McDonald's: Staff at four branches in Brixton, Crayford, Cambridge and Watford are walking out for a pay rise to £10 an hour, an end to zero hour contracts and for their right to unionise.
- JD Wetherspoon: Staff at two Brighton pubs are striking after being inspired by a previous McStrike by McDonald's workers earlier this month. They want union recognition and to be paid at least £10 an hour.
Matt Rouse, 22, a kitchen worker at the Bright Helm Wetherspoons pub in Brighton, told the BFAWU that he plans to strike to "call out injustice in our workplaces".
"We are determined to stand together and make our demands for £10 an hour for all, and union recognition heard."
This is the eighth strike by workers at TGI Fridays restaurants in Covent Garden and Milton Keynes, but the first time that any Wetherspoons workers have walked out.
The strike will happen on an international day of action by fast-food workers across the world, according to the BFAWU.
McDonald's worker Lauren McCourt added: “We’re joining with Wetherspoons and TGI Friday’s workers because when we come together, hospitality workers have the power to transform our sector.
"The days of poverty pay, insecure contracts and lack of respect for workers are numbered.
"A living wage of £10/hr for all ages, security of hours, and our right to a union are the basic rights we are fighting for."
A spokesman for McDonald's said: “Any suggestion that this activity is widespread and growing is not accurate – we understand that fewer of our employees are involved in potential industrial action than last May, with the support from our people of the union diminishing.
"The numbers also represent an extremely small proportion of our workforce - in Brixton, for example, just two of our employees have been balloted for strike out of a workforce of more than 100. These small numbers and this planned industrial action do not represent the majority of our 120,000 workforce."
Yesterday, UberEats customers faced delays after riders went on strike and refused to deliver McDonald's food in a row over wages.
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