McDonald's, Wetherspoon and TGI Fridays workers plan strike

Workers from three popular hospitality chains are set to take part in a coordinated UK strike next month to highlight low pay and poor working conditions across the industry.

Staff from McDonald's, JD Wetherspoon and TGI Fridays will simultaneously walk out of their restaurants and pubs on 4 October, and gather for a rally at London's Leicester Square.

They are also protesting against the lack of trade union recognition within some establishments.

Workers from two Wetherspoon pubs in Brighton, as well as McDonalds staff in Brixton, Crayford, Cambridge and Watford, and TGI Fridays employees in Milton Keynes, London's Covent Garden and Stratford will be going on strike.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), said the workers are "part of a growing movement of workers who face similar conditions of poverty pay, precarious contracts and lack of union recognition".

The union, currently on a drive for new members, is co-ordinating the strike along with anti-poverty charity War On Want.

The BFAWU was the driving force behind the so-called 'McStrike' when McDonald's UK workers walked out for the first time last September.

Staff from the giant fast food chain walked out a second time on 1 May this year.

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The union said next month's strikers were inspired by the walkouts, particularly Wetherspoon staff, striking for the first time in the pub chain's history.

Next month's action will mark TGI Fridays staff's eighth strike since May this year.

The strikers will be joined by a delegation of hospitality workers from four continents, the BFAWU said.

Matt Rouse, a 22 year-old kitchen worker at the Bright Helm Wetherspoon in Brighton, said he was striking with colleagues to voice demands for a £10 an hour wage rate for all staff and union recognition.

"This is only the beginning, we will keep fighting for everyone, for better wages and rights for hospitality workers across the country," he said.

Boni Adeliyi, a TGI Fridays waitress in Milton Keynes, said: "All young workers should join a union - it's important to know your rights and how to fight for them when they're being ignored."

McDonalds employee Lauren McCourt said staff at the chain were joining Wetherspoon and TGI Fridays workers "because when we come together, hospitality workers have the power to transform our sector".

"The days of poverty pay, insecure contracts and lack of respect for workers are numbered. A living wage of £10/hr for all ages, security of hours, and our right to a union are the basic rights we are fighting for."

The BFAWU said UK workers were part of a growing global movement, and that actions from fast food workers around the globe have been planned for the same day to campaign for union rights, decent wages and working conditions.