McStrike: Ballot for Strike Action at Six McDonald’s Stores Across the UK

Press release:

• Ballot for strike action at six stores: Manchester, Cambridge, Crayford, Watford x2 , and central London
• McDonald’s workers balloted in Global CEO Steve Easterbrook’s home town of Watford.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has notified McDonald’s that it is balloting workers at six stores with a view to authorising a strike later this year.

Tristan Bentley, a McDonald’s worker in Crayford said “Workers across the country came together to decide to ballot for industrial action. We want a better deal. We are the McStrikers, and we will not be silent, we will not be scared. We will do whatever it takes to win a better life for all McDonald’s workers.”

Ian Hodson, President BFAWU said: “The BFAWU is balloting its members at six McDonald’s stores.  Representatives from six stores attended a meeting and took a decision that they wished to be balloted on industrial action on issues of pay, unequal pay for young workers, and for a choice of fixed hours.  The union is committed to supporting its members and campaigning for £10 an hour, an end to zero hour contracts, and to give McDonald’s workers a voice.”

The stores balloted are Cambridge and Crayford, where workers took strike action last September; Manchester; central London; and two stores in Watford, which is the home town of McDonald’s Global CEO Steve Easterbrook.

The ballot will close on April 16 and the BFAWU will release the results of the ballot once the company has been informed of the result.

Notes to Editors:

• For media inquiries, please contact:  Owen Espley Mobile: 07861362797 / Tel: 020 73245058  Email: oespley [@] waronwant.org
• In September 2017, McDonald’s workers made history when they went on strike for the first time in the UK. January 2018 McDonald’s gave their staff the largest pay rise for a decade.
• The #McStrike campaign is part of a growing global movement of fast food workers fighting for fairness. In the USA, McDonald’s have come under significant pressure as part of the “Fight for $15” campaign– supported by the Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU). More than 10 million workers in the USA are currently on the path to $15 an hour as a result of the efforts of their campaign.
• McDonald’s workers in the UK are fighting to achieve the same impressive results as their transatlantic colleagues, starting with a fair, £10 an hour, an end to zero hour contracts and the right to form a trade union.

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