Glasgow fast food workers from BFAWU Fast Food Rights campaign, supported by the Better Than Zero campaign, dressed as evil Ronald McDonalds run rampage around the city demanding £10 an hour minimum wage for all now, union rights, and an end to zero hours contracts
See full list of live tweets with pictures and reports from the fast food strikes and protests all around the world at #FastFoodGlobal
See photo gallery of Glasgow protest by Duncan Brown here
On Thursday 14 April 2016, the third annual #FastFoodGlobal Day Of Action by fast food workers and their unions took place. And it was phenomenal. This year top all that have gone so far, with fast food and low waged worker strikes hitting over 300 cities spanning every state in America, and the global movement of fast food workers flexing its muscles too, with over 40 countries with protests in solidarity with the US Fight For 15 movement.
Fast Food Rights protest in Glasgow, led by fast food workers dressed as evil Ronald McDonalds made front page news!
Here in the UK, Fast Food Rights drew in support from Jeremy Corbyn, Labour leader, who said on Twitter, “It’s Fast Food Global Day of Action. Solidarity w/ workers across the world who are fighting for decent pay & rights at work”.
Natalie Bennett, Green Party leader, also tweeted her support, saying “We all need a living wage, secure employment and decent conditions – well done to all supporting #fastfoodglobal day of action today”.
This year’s day of action saw a major focus in Glasgow, where fast food workers have been joining the BFAWU bakers’ union in large numbers, and low waged, zero hour contract workers from other industries joining the wider campaign to demand £10 an hour now for all workers, regardless of age; union rights; and an end to zero hours contracts.
As fast food workers took to the streets, dressed as evil Ronald McDonalds (see #TerrifyingRonalds), they descended on the central McDonald’s to have a ‘Precarious Work Picnic’, stopping to occupy a KFC on route.
At the picnic, the 20 or so Ronalds laid out their picnic blankets, and peered inside their ‘unhappy meal’ bags to see what was in store.
But when they pulled out ‘zero hours contracts’ and ‘low pay’, and ‘lack of respect’, and ‘no union rights’, the Ronalds became upset. When they tried to eat their unhappy meal serving, they were overcome by sickness, compelled to collapse in a fit on the ground.
Happy Ronalds (Picture: Duncan Brown)
Then a Ronald brought out a real ‘Happy Meal’, containing ‘£10 an hour’, ‘Union Rights’, and ‘No zero hours’, at which point the Ronalds revived, and starting celebrating and dancing in the street outside McDonald’s.
Article and video in Evening Times
The SNP Trade Union Group also tweeted their support for the protests in Glasgow.
In an astounding move from one of the most notorious companies to use zero hours contracts for the bulk of its workers, today (Friday 15 April) saw the Guardian run an article where McDonald’s bosses claim they have decided that they are going to “give staff the option of moving to contracts guaranteeing a minimum of four-hours per week, 16 hours, or 30 hours”.
Elsewhere in the UK, where fast food worker branches of BFAWU and the Fast Food Rights campaign have been growing with fast food workers leading, protests also took place.
One fast food worker reports: “In Scarborough we have grown considerably over the last two months to a total of 16 members.
We now have members in five different town centre fast food shops and are starting to work on tackling individual workplace issues (and winning!) in order to further our membership and presence in these workplaces.
Around 40 joined the protest in Wakefield, where a week of events and actions alongside comedian Mark Thomas saw fast food workers joining the union
We have found that in nearly every one of our members workplaces, employers are breaking employment law, from illegal unpaid mandatory meetings to not following the time directive on rest periods between shifts. So these are the issues we will be focussing on as we grow our numbers and confidence for the fight for £10 and a union for all!”
Meanwhile, fast food workers all around the world were protesting, occupying, and in America striking to maximise pressure on McDonald’s with the slogan ‘McJobs Cost Us All’.
New York was epic!
The Philippines:
Pittsburgh:
Brazil:
Tampa:
Euro Disney in France:
Las Vegas:
DOWLOAD LEAFLET HERE
On Saturday 27 February the BFAWU Fast Food Rights campaign held a campaign rally and social as a fringe event at the Young Labour conference, where fast food worker members of the union spoke on a platform alongside Jeremy Corbyn and others.
Download the PDF to print leaflets 