Wetherspoons and McDonalds workers to strike over wages

20th Sep 2018 13:06

(Sharecast News) - Workers from Wetherspoons, McDonalds and TGI Fridays have taken unexpected action to fight "poverty wages" and are set to strike together next month.The strike set for 4 October includes staff from a number of McDonald's and Wetherspoons branches in London and Brighton.Workers, many of them newly unionised and of a young age, are calling for £10 an hour pay and union recognition.Wetherspoons staff are asking to bring forward an annual pay rise from April 2019 to November 2018. Currently the minimum starting rate for bar staff over 18 is £8.05 an hour while kitchen staff receive £8.25 an hour and team leaders are on £8.65.Earlier on this year the TGI Fridays was fined for failing to pay workers the minimum wage.Workers from The Bright Helm and The Post & Telegraph Wetherspoon pubs in Brighton told the Guardian that securing the wage rise was crucial to alleviate the mounting personal debt that the workforce is in due to poor wages and lift them out of near poverty conditions.A JD Wetherspoon spokesperson said the pub chain was moving to the same pay rate for 18-21s as we already have for over 21s from November this year, as well as lifting rates of pay. In the company's recent quarterly results the company said it had spend around £20m last year on pay for bar staff, and was planning to invest a further £27m from November.