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From The Socialist newspaper, 23 August 2017
McDonald's workers vote to walk out in historic strike
McDonald's, photo Mike Mozart/CC (Click to enlarge)
Scott Jones
McDonald's workers balloted at Crayford, south east London, and Cambridge stores have voted by an incredible 95.7% in favour of strike action. The workers, members of bakers' union BFAWU, have now named 4 September as the first strike day.
Ian Hodson, BFAWU president, told the Socialist: "Workers have found themselves living on low wages with no guarantee of hours.
"This has been viewed by some as punishment for joining a union, and has seen employees struggle to meet their rent payments, while some have even lost their homes.
"McDonald's has had countless opportunities to resolve grievances by offering workers a fair wage and acceptable working conditions. This is a call for change.
"Already, just by voting to strike and organising in the union, the workers have gained an impressive shift from McDonald's - who have stated only now after the strike vote that by the end of 2017 they will implement the twice-promised offer of a guaranteed-hours contract to every UK McDonald's worker.
"We want this signed off, but it is a major victory for some 80,000 workers at McDonald's and shows what getting organised, joining a union and taking action can do."
Please donate to the strike fund at fastfoodrights.wordpress.com, send messages of support, and join the #McStrike events and picket lines:
- On Saturday 2 September, BFAWU is holding a protest at McDonald's HQ in East Finchley, north London
- On the day of the strike, Monday 4 September, workers at the Cambridge site will picket from 6-7am, while workers at the Crayford site will picket from 6-7.30am
- The strikers and their supporters will then come together outside parliament at 10.30am for a rally
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In The Socialist 23 August 2017:
What we think
Coordinate the strikes to defeat the Tories
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Glasgow jannies win famous victory against council cutters
Bin workers - fighting back wins!
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Defiant Barts NHS workers fight to stop Serco sabotage
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BA poverty pay dispute enters new phase of action
McDonald's workers vote to walk out in historic strike
Bin workers say: Sack Suez, stop rubbish cuts!
PCS: strikes to defend jobcentres
Fighting the far right
US: neo-Nazi violence reawakens resistance
Lewisham 1977: When socialists and workers defeated the far-right National Front
Opposing the National Front in Grantham
Socialist Party feature
The Single Market: a neoliberal tool of the bosses
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Chatsworth ward campaigners demand answers
Vital women's services under threat
West Midlands Young Socialists fight for free education on results day
NHS campaign receives Labour Party backing
Socialist readers' comments and reviews
Mutinies and strikes: when Bolshevism threatened British bosses
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