Lindon, photo Paul Mattsson

Lindon, photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

McDonald’s striker Lindon, who will be walking out on 12 November spoke in the ‘£15 an hour minimum wage – is this what we need to fight for?’ session at Socialism 2019. Below are extracts from his speech about why he is fighting for £15 an hour

“I’m a father of three and we’re going on strike on 12 November. Being a worker for McDonald’s for the past seven years I know it doesn’t treat people with respect.

Managers talk to you anyway they want to. The way McDonald’s treats us is appalling.

In the run up to this strike I was talking to my colleagues about joining the campaign for £15 an hour and I was called in by my manager and told that I must not talk to anybody about the strike.

He said if I respect him then I should not talk to anybody about the strike. I told him it’s going to benefit me, benefit my kids and everybody inside the store. If we get £15 an hour it’s going to benefit him.

Fighting for £15 an hour means a lot to me. It would mean I don’t have to do two jobs. Currently I’m full time at McDonald’s and part time at Sainsbury’s. I start at Sainsbury’s at 7am and then at McDonald’s at 3pm until 11 or 12 at night. I basically only sleep 3 hours in the week.

If we won £15 an hour then I would have enough time to spend with my kids, enough money to save up to go on holiday, and I would basically have enough money to look after myself and my family. We are in this to win this. We are fighting together to win £15 an hour and together we will win and be able to live a comfortable life.”