{"id":13265,"date":"2017-09-08T15:36:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T14:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13265"},"modified":"2017-09-11T12:51:30","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T11:51:30","slug":"fight-together-rise-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13265","title":{"rendered":"‘Fight together, rise together’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For the first time ever, UK workers at the global fast food chain restaurant McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s went on strike this week (September 4) in their fight against low pay and zero hours contracts.<\/p>\n

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Taking a leaf out of the playbook of American fast food workers, whose mass walkouts since 2012 have enjoyed significant success, the workers from Crayford and Cambridge McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chains defiantly stood their ground as people from around the world offered their solidarity.<\/p>\n

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Unite Community members joined the picket lines and a rally at Parliament, in support of the 40 workers, many of them young people, some of them rendered virtually homeless by low wages.<\/p>\n

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Labour party leaders, including shadow chancellor John McDonnell, and activists from other unions also offered their support at the rally at Parliament, as the workers took an historic step in their first ever strike action that some speculate will spread like wildfire across McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and other fast food chains.<\/p>\n

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The striking McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 demands are simple \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all they want is an end to zero hours contracts, which the company itself has said it would do but has yet followed through across all its UK franchises, a higher wage of at least \u00c2\u014110 an hour, and union recognition.<\/p>\n

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UNITElive caught up with two McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers on strike on Wednesday \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they had come along to support Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s protests against Sports Direct.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Shen and Lewis (pictured) are both paid just above \u00c2\u01417 an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c on this meagre wage they struggle to earn a living in one of the most expensive regions in the UK.<\/p>\n

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Lewis lives in London, where he says, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just barely able to make ends meet.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOnce I pay my rent and other bills, I have virtually nothing,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afford to do anything else except just get by.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Shen cannot afford to move out of her parents\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 home.<\/p>\n

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In debt <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAnd I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m \u00c2\u01411,500 in debt that I cannot pay off. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got letters coming through the door every week with \u00e2\u20ac\u0098last request for payments\u00e2\u20ac\u2122,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she told UNITElive. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSometimes I think the position I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in is hard but for some of our other younger colleagues it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even worse.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because, Shen explains, workers of different ages are paid different rates based on minimum wage laws \u00e2\u20ac\u201c those aged 21 to 24 need only be paid \u00c2\u01417.05 an hour, those 18 to 20 years old \u00c2\u01415.60, and for those under 18, \u00c2\u01414.05 is the minimum hourly rate.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe have colleagues who are under 17 earning about \u00c2\u01415 an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some of them don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t live with family and cannot afford to pay rent so they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve literally been made homeless,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Lewis said.<\/p>\n

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Lewis and Shen came out to support the Sports Direct workers on Wednesday, they explained, because they can relate to their struggles working on zero hours contracts.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bZero hours contracts are just flexibility for the employers. When they need us, they give us all the shifts they want, but as soon as they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need us we get no shifts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Lewis said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all based on favouritism too \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if the managers like you they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give you the hours, if not you won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get the work you need to survive.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Shen and Lewis both believe that their fight against insecure work is made stronger through solidarity with workers like them across the board.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all about solidarity,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Lewis argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fighting together to put an end to zero hours contracts especially. McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s is one of the biggest employers in the world and in many ways they set the benchmark \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if we can pressure them to get rid of insecure contracts and put their wages up, a lot of companies like Sports Direct will do the same. Everyone needs to come together and support each other.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Shen agreed.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re brave enough to step outside and do what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done at McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, we encourage other workers in similar situations \u00e2\u20ac\u201c those in Sports Direct and others in hospitality and retail \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to stand up and do the same. If we fight together, we rise together.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Solidarity<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite Community south east London branch secretary Ellen Morrison also believes that solidarity is the key to success in the fight for decent work.<\/p>\n

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Just like Shen and Lewis, members of the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) who came out to support a Unite-organised action against Sports Direct, Ellen likewise joined the picket lines in support of McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThere are huge parallels between the two campaigns,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t specific to just McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s or just Sports Direct either. Zero hour contracts are at a record high. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening everywhere, especially in hospitality and retail. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re starting a movement \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not only showing the government, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re showing employers too that we won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tolerate what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing to us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The Labour party has stood firmly behind the striking McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers; their demands align exactly with the party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policies.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur party offers support and solidarity to the brave McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers, who are making history,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on the day of the strike. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are standing up for workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights by leading the first ever strike at McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the UK.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTheir demands \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an end to zero-hours contracts by the end of the year, union recognition and a \u00c2\u014110 per hour minimum wage \u00e2\u20ac\u201c are just, and should be met.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Shen says that this week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strike is only the beginning, with more and more McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers in different branches joining together and organising.<\/p>\n

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The Guardian today reported<\/a> that a video of McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers, featuring Shen and another colleague, has gone viral \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an estimated one in four of all UK McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers has seen it.<\/p>\n

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If the more than 2m views is anything to go by as Unite and other unions step up in the fight against insecure work, this could be the start of something big.<\/p>\n

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