McDonald’s has given workers an above-inflation pay rise following the first UK strike action in the company’s history.
Staff aged over 25 will be paid between £8 and £10 per hour from 22 January. Younger staff will also receive boosts.
The 40p per hour increase on McDonald’s current pay of £7.60 equates to a 5.3 per cent pay improvement. It means wages at the fast-food chain will keep slightly above the official UK minimum wage which is set to increase from £7.50 to £7.83 in April.
The pay rise will apply to workers at restaurants that McDonald’s owns. For franchised branches the new rates only act as a recommendation.
A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “From kitchen to counter to front of house, our success would not be possible without the hard work of our people, so we will keep working hard to do right by them.”
The news was hailed as a victory for workers at two McDonald’s restaurants in Cambridge and Crayford, in south London, who went on strike in September over pay and conditions.
Jeremy Corbyn congratulated workers and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) which represents many of those who took industrial action. But he also tweeted that the fight for £10 per hour “is not over”.
“We achieve more together than we can alone, which is why we should all join a trade union,“ Mr Corbyn wrote.
Congratulations to McDonald's workers and @BFAWU1 for winning pay rises but the fight for £10 an hour is not over. We achieve more together than we can alone, which is why we should all join a trade union.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) January 3, 2018
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell also showed his support, tweeting: “I pay tribute to the #McStrike @bfawu1 young workers who took on McDonalds resulting in today's pay rise victory. It demonstrates the vital role trade unions play and the importance of joining a union.”
A 24-hour strike by UK McDonald’s workers last year followed far more widespread walkouts in the US where the “Fight for 15” campaign has seen thousands of staff join the picket line.
The movement began in 2012 with fast-food workers at McDonald’s, Domino’s, Burger King and other chains in New York demanding $15 per hour as well as the right to join a union without experiencing any consequences from their managers.
It has since spread across the country and to other low-paid industries such as retail. The giant US chain Target pledged in September to boost hourly pay to $15 an hour for its 323,000 workers by 2020.
I pay tribute to the #McStrike @bfawu1 young workers who took on McDonalds resulting in today’s pay rise victory. It demonstrates the vital role trade unions play and the importance of joining a union. Solidarity and congratulations to @IanBFAWU and @Ronniebfawu
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) January 3, 2018
In the UK, the Labour party has committed to increasing the UK minimum wage to £10 per hour if it gains power.
The Government plans to hike the minimum wage to 60 per cent of median earnings by 2020, which would equate to around £8.56 on current projections.
A McDonald's spokesperson confirmed the new pay rates. “While our franchisees set their own pay rates, we have recommended an increase across all age bands for our hourly employees to be implemented from 22 January,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
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