McDonald's, TGI Fridays and JD Wetherspoons staff to strike over pay

by XPRESS, 21 September 2018

Staff at three major hospitality organisations are set to join forces to take strike action in October to call for a wage increase to £10 an hour and union recognition.

Young and new union members working at JD Wetherspoon, McDonald’s and TGI Fridays are believed to be at the heart of the action, according to The Guardian, in what is expected to be the first coordinated strike involving several companies in the hospitality sector.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has balloted members about taking action.

Set to take place on 4 October, the strike will involve staff from several McDonald’s branches in London, a number of TGI Fridays outlets and two branches of Wetherspoon in Brighton – the Bright Helm and the Post & Telegraph. A rally in London is expected to take place.

It is unusual for different companies in the hospitality sector to join forces to take strike action. Last year workers at the Crayford and Cambridge stores of McDonald’s became the first UK-based employees with the burger giant to strike.

This was followed up by members of the Bakers’ Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) in five McDonald’s voting for strike action on International Workers’ Day on 1 May. Workers called for £10 an hour, a choice of fixed-hour contracts, the end of unequal pay for young workers, and for union recognition.

In separate action, staff at two TGI sites in Milton Keynes and Covent Garden, London, announced in May they would stage a 24-hour walkout in a row over changes to the way tips are distributed. The Unite union claimed the changes could cost waiting staff as much as £250 a month.

A spokesperson for JD Wetherspoon said: “ Rates of pay have come under review at most pub and restaurant companies.

“As the press have recently reported, pay rates are increasing in the economy generally.

“In the company’s results announcement on Friday September 14, it announced that it had increased pay rates in the last financial year (to July 2018) by £20 million and would be increasing rates this year by £27 million.

“It also decided several months ago, that management will work a 40 hour week instead of the current 42.5 hours from April 2019.

“We are also moving to the same rate for 18-21s as we already have for over 21s from 5 November 2018.

“In addition we are putting up the rate of pay. In the last financial year we paid record monthly bonuses and free shares of £43 million, equivalent to about 50 per cent of our net profits. 75 per cent of this sum was paid to those who work in our pubs.”

Article Credit: The Caterer