{"id":16467,"date":"2018-10-04T16:36:16","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T15:36:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=16467"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:11","slug":"tgi-fridays-waiters-fast-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=16467","title":{"rendered":"‘Finding their voice’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Some of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most popular food and drink chains \u00e2\u20ac\u201c TGI Fridays, McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Wetherspoons \u00e2\u20ac\u201c faced coordinated strike action today (October 4) from a young and defiant workforce that congregated in central London for a mass solidarity rally.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chants of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098If we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it, shut it down\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I believe that we will win\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 echoed across London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Leicester Square, a busy shopping thoroughfare, as the workers gathered together with supporters to send a message to fast food corporations across the UK \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that they had had enough of low pay and poor working conditions.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7606\"<\/p>\n

UberEats, Deliveroo, and Uber workers also joined demonstrations in cities across the UK, including Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle, Plymouth and Southampton.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite TGI Fridays workers in London and Milton Keynes are striking for the eighth time today in response to a tipping policy, introduced earlier this year, that swipes 40 per cent of waiters\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 card tips and redistributes them to kitchen staff. The move has left many staff about \u00c2\u0141250 a month worse off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Union difference<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite member Boni Adeliyi, was set to go to drama school this fall \u00e2\u20ac\u201c she was supposed to start yesterday \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but after losing her tips, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had to postpone a dream of hers that had been years in the making.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was losing about \u00c2\u0141200 a month,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Boni told UNITElive. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis was money I was specifically budgeting to save up for tuition. Now I make just enough to get by.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Boni had never been part of a trade union before, but she said it was a natural next step after staff complaints to management went unheeded.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe sent e-mails, wrote letters and made it clear that we weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happy with what management was doing, but we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get anything from them except for a generic, dismissive response.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when we joined the union, we realised right away that when you stand together organised, your voice is automatically louder \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we get the sort of backing that we couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t provide for ourselves.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although the tips dispute continues, Boni and her colleagues have seen the difference being unionised has made to their working lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bManagement had taken our free meals away but after we joined Unite, these were reinstated. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now getting paid for training as well. Bosses are really sensitive to issues around working hours \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this new sense of being sure you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting paid for the time you worked. This attitude started only after we joined the union.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"IMG_7616\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sense of solidarity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

TGI Fridays bartender David Bailey (pictured above, centre) told UNITElive that even though he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t affected directly by the tips policy, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still backing the strike.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m indirectly affected because waiters give us 10 per cent of their tips anyway so there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a knock-on effect on bar staff,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But even kitchen staff, David explains, who have financially benefited from the new tips policy are standing with their colleagues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe share a strong sense of solidarity,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOne colleague who works in the kitchen even told me, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll give you your tips back \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to be taking someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tips like this\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite rep and TGI Fridays waitress Lauren Townsend (pictured below with Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell) explained that she and her colleagues are striking for more than just a fair tips policy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is why we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re joining McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Whetherspoons workers today \u00e2\u20ac\u201c so many of us in the hospitality industry working for these major corporations are living to pay check to pay check. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not living; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s surviving and we deserve more.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"IMG_7514\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Same problems’<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite member and TGI Fridays waitress Beattie Slavin agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015b[In hospitality] we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all suffering the same problems \u00e2\u20ac\u201c our employers are squeezing us till there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very little left extra to give. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re eroding our dignity by cutting our hours to the bone.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Striking workers from TGI Fridays, Unite members, alongside McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Wetherspoons workers, who are members of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), were joined today too by hospitality workers and union activists from across the world, including Germany, France, the US, Thailand and other countries.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They stood united in their demand for higher wages \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in the case of UK workers for \u00c2\u014110 an hour \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and union recognition.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell addressed the rally today, pledging his and the Labour party\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s full support.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“These are workers that have been ignored by their employers and are simply asking for a wage they can live on and the same basic rights at work we should all be entitled to,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“Under a Labour government, we will guarantee that all workers will have their rights at work protected from day one, earn a living wage of \u00c2\u014110 per hour, and that those on strike would be entitled to a share in the ownership of the companies they work for.”<\/p>\n

\"IMG_7425\"<\/p>\n

Unite national officer Rhys McCarthy (pictured above) said in a speech that these hospitality workers were “finding their voice.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“These workers have had enough of low pay and insecure work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. “They are leading a growing movement against low pay and insecure work in the hospitality sector and across the gig economy.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional officer Dave Turnbull reminded the striking workers that they have joined a long and proud tradition of trade unionism within hospitality \u00e2\u20ac\u201c just after the Second World War, Savoy Hotel workers walked out in a historic strike action that quickly spread across hotels and catering in London and beyond.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis time we are going to win,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for low-paid workers to stand up and fight back.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most popular food and drink chains \u00e2\u20ac\u201c TGI Fridays, McDonald\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Wetherspoons \u00e2\u20ac\u201c faced coordinated strike action today (October 4) from a young and defiant workforce that congregated in central London for a mass solidarity rally.   Chants of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098If we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get it, shut it down\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098I believe that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[94,303,888],"wps_subtitle":"TGI Fridays waiters join historic coordinated fast food strike action","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16467"}],"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=16467"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16467\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25807,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16467\/revisions\/25807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16467"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16467"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16467"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}