This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/04/tuc-boss-urges-public-backing-for-mcstrike

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
TUC boss urges public backing for McStrike Labour is 100% behind McStrike, John McDonnell tells rally
(about 4 hours later)
The Trades Union Congress has urged the public to show support for a McStrike involving low-paid hospitality workers, couriers and taxi drivers. Labour has thrown its weight behind unprecedented industrial action by employees in the hospitality sector, as the party instructed its MPs to join workers from Wetherspoons, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays on picket lines around the country.
Staff from several branches of McDonald’s and TGI Fridays, and two Wetherspoon pubs in Brighton, as well as some Deliveroo couriers and UberEats drivers, will stage coordinated walkouts on Thursday in separate disputes over pay and union recognition. In a day of action by workers in a sector where unions are only now managing to put down roots, members of the grassroots Labour campaign group Momentum staged pickets outside a number of McDonald’s outlets. Uber Eats and Deliveroo couriers were also striking.
A demonstration will be held in Leicester Square in central London, and there will be action in other cities including Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle, Plymouth and Southampton. The event has been organised by War On Want, Unite, and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union. The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, addressed a rally in Leicester Square, central London, and pledged that Labour in power would act swiftly to introduce a £10-an-hour minimum wage, one of the central demands of those taking part in the strikes on Thursday.
The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, described the strike as “small but growing” after some UberEats drivers said they were joining the action. The food delivery service’s workers want to be paid £5 per delivery plus a further £1 per mile. “Last night a briefing went out to all Labour MPs, which basically states if there is a picket line in your constituency you have responsibility to join it,” he told hundreds of people at the rally, including supporters from unions such as Unite and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, and activists from the campaign group War on Want.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, O’Grady called for public backing for the action. “We need the public and communities to support us. We’ll be at 11 o’clock in Leicester Square holding our rally,” she said. “Let me be absolutely clear that the Labour party is 100% behind this strike. We will fulfil the promise of our late leader John Smith, made way back in the 1990s – trade union rights for everyone,” McDonnell said.
Separately, Amazon, whose employees are not involved in the strike, has been criticised for cutting benefits for UK warehouse workers, offsetting at least half of a big pay rise announced this week. Those gathered in Leicester Square included workers from Wetherspoons restaurants in Brighton, who had travelled to London after beginning a strike at midnight. Among them was Katie Southworth, 22, who described her work at Wetherspoons over the past two years as highly demanding and stressful.
The removal of employee share and incentive schemes could cost thousands of workers £1,500 in a single year, according to the GMB union, which accused the online retailer of imposing “a stealth tax on its own wage increase”. “Currently about about 80% of my wages goes on accommodation. If we were able to win £10 an hour, it would give me the opportunity to be able to live a fulfilling life, because at the moment I have no hope of being able to live independently or get a mortgage – things that people have taken for granted,” she said.
O’Grady urged more workers to join unions. “We are seeing young workers in particular from a whole range of different hospitality employers, but also these new tech monopolies that are using very old-fashioned forms of exploitation, and more and more young people joining their union,” she said. The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, described the strike as “small but growing”.
“The only way that workers are going to get justice is by joining a union. In the end, Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world who runs Amazon, is not going to listen to workers individually, we have to combine our collective bargaining power. “These are often young workers who increasingly feel they have nothing to lose. They are on low pay, often without training and often on zero-hour contracts,” she said.
“Very often, young workers are frightened, especially if they are on zero-hours contracts or sham self-employment, that they won’t get offered shifts if they do join up. We are also seeing among young people a sense that they have nothing to lose.” “Although these are small-scale actions, they are growing and spreading, and what I find really touching is that these are workers from different companies coming out to support each other.
Unite members at TGI Fridays restaurants in Milton Keynes and London will stage their eighth walkout as part of a long-running dispute over a change in tips policy that they say has left waiting staff £250 a month worse off. “The key point is that a lot of these very rich and powerful multinational firms have deliberately put their workers on contracts that keep them scared. If you are on a zero-hours contract, they don’t have to sack you, they can just stop offering you shifts. So it’s a big ask to stick your head above the parapet.”
Unite’s national officer Rhys McCarthy said hospitality workers were finding their voice. “These workers have had enough of low pay and insecure work. They are leading a growing movement against low pay and insecure work in the hospitality sector and across the gig economy,” he said. Customers arriving at McDonald’s outlets around London were greeted by noisy early-morning pickets by Momentum activists carrying banners. Navendu Mishra, who was involved in one of them, said: “Fast-food workers are among the lowest paid of any industry. Their contracts are often precarious and many face disgraceful working conditions, including widespread sexual harassment.”
The McDonald’s, TGI Fridays and Wetherspoons workers are demanding better working conditions across the hospitality sector, pay of £10 an hour and an end to “precarious” contracts. Workers at UberEats are asking to be paid £5 for each delivery and a further £1 per mile travelled making those deliveries. Last month, drivers staged a series of walkouts after the company reduced its minimum payment per delivery from £4.26 to £3.50.
Fast-food workers in the US are also on strike this week over pay. The companies targeted by the strike have defended the pay and conditions of their workers. A spokesman for TGI Fridays said: “Our team members are a part of our Fridays family. We believe they should be, and are, treated and paid fairly. Out of a workforce of over 5,500 team members, less than 1% are involved in this action.”
A spokesman for TGI Fridays said: “Our team members are a part of our Fridays family. We believe they should be, and are, treated and paid fairly. Out of a workforce of over 5,500 team members, less than 1% are involved in this action.” An UberEats spokesman said: “In response to feedback from couriers we’ve made some changes to our payment structure in London, which brings it into line with other cities. Our door is always open for individual couriers to speak to us about any issues they’re having.”
An UberEats spokesman said: “In response to feedback from couriers, we’ve made some changes to our payment structure in London, which brings it into line with other cities. Our door is always open for individual couriers to speak to us about any issues they’re having.”
JD Wetherspoon said it had increased its spending on pay by £20m in the year to July, and would raise it by a further £27m this year.JD Wetherspoon said it had increased its spending on pay by £20m in the year to July, and would raise it by a further £27m this year.
The pub chain’s chairman, Tim Martin, said: “It is understandable that there is pressure on pay with low unemployment and a housing shortage. However, bonuses, free shares and other benefits should be taken into account in assessing pay. I don’t think it would benefit employees overall if, as some suggest, Wetherspoon ended bonuses, free shares and other benefits, and increased the basic rate of pay.The pub chain’s chairman, Tim Martin, said: “It is understandable that there is pressure on pay with low unemployment and a housing shortage. However, bonuses, free shares and other benefits should be taken into account in assessing pay. I don’t think it would benefit employees overall if, as some suggest, Wetherspoon ended bonuses, free shares and other benefits, and increased the basic rate of pay.
“It’s easy to be cynical about business, but companies like McDonald’s, TGI Fridays and thousands of other individuals and businesses make a big contribution to the economy and provide valuable work and experience for many people.”“It’s easy to be cynical about business, but companies like McDonald’s, TGI Fridays and thousands of other individuals and businesses make a big contribution to the economy and provide valuable work and experience for many people.”
Steve Garelick of GMB said: “The continued attacks made on workers, from rate reduction without consultation to gratuities being hived off, show that there is nothing wholesome in the service and gig economy sector.”
Industrial actionIndustrial action
TUC
Trade unions
Gig economyGig economy
McDonald's Trade unions
Deliveroo Labour
John McDonnell
TUC
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content