{"id":15121,"date":"2018-05-01T15:45:09","date_gmt":"2018-05-01T14:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15121"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:46","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:46","slug":"unite-tgi-fridays-mcdonalds-may-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15121","title":{"rendered":"‘Respect and dignity’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Given the often dreary and unpredictable British weather, the ancient celebration of May Day as the beginning of summer can seem a tad premature.<\/p>\n

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However, the first of May also marks another occasion: since the end of the nineteenth century it has been known as International Workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Day.<\/p>\n

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Just as the nation is not enjoying long days of uninterrupted sunshine quite yet, many people in the UK are still waiting for fair pay and decent treatment in their jobs.<\/p>\n

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But while it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s impossible to improve the weather, time and again the opposite has proved true for terms and conditions.<\/p>\n

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TGI Friday’s<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why this May Day Unite is backing workers at TGI Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/a> and McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, as well as workers across the hospitality sector, who are fighting against an epidemic of exploitative employment practices.<\/p>\n

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A Unite ballot for strike action at TGI Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u201c called after the firm reduced tips<\/a> paid on credit or debit cards for waiting staff by 40 per cent to finance a pay rise for kitchen workers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c closes today.<\/p>\n

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Basically, the hugely profitable international restaurant chain is swiping the earnings of its waiting staff \u00e2\u20ac\u201c most of whom are women on minimum wage who rely on tips to supplement their meagre incomes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and using the diverted cash to get out of paying proper wages to its kitchen staff.<\/p>\n

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Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bA company of the reputation and scale of TGI can afford to pay a decent wage to all its staff and Unite is calling for a minimum of \u00c2\u014110 per hour.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA wage that respects the company\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s staff and provides dignity in work, addresses growing in-work poverty and the abuse of all taxpayers forced to subsidise low pay via a corporate welfare system that sees growing profits at the expense of us all.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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If TGI Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s staff vote to take industrial action, it will be the first strike ever in the UK taken over tipping policy.<\/p>\n

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Turner said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe TGI ballot doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just send a signal to waiting staff across the country. It also tells hotel workers, cleaners and bar staff, and all workers fed up with bosses getting away with it, that they deserve to be treated decently and that there is a welcome home for them in our labour movement.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The closing of the TGI Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ballot\u00c2\u00a0in two branches coincided with the beginning of fresh strike action by McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/a> workers, who want a \u00c2\u014110 an hour living wage, permanent contracts and an end to pay disparity for younger workers.<\/p>\n

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The McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers are members of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which has formed an alliance with Unite to \u00e2\u20ac\u015bend poverty pay and bring justice, respect and dignity\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 to the hospitality sector.<\/p>\n

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Unite general secretary Len McCluskey tweeted<\/a> his support to McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and TGI Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s workers.<\/p>\n

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He said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSending my support and solidarity today\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 with all those demanding better pay and treatment and an end to insecure work and zero hours contracts which are such a barrier to trade union organisation and fair employment.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Given the often dreary and unpredictable British weather, the ancient celebration of May Day as the beginning of summer can seem a tad premature.   However, the first of May also marks another occasion: since the end of the nineteenth century it has been known as International Workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Day.   Just as the nation is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[731,272,888],"wps_subtitle":"Unite backs TGI Friday's and McDonald's workers on May Day","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15121"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26228,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15121\/revisions\/26228"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}