McDonald's workers launch first strike in UK

Staff at two McdDonald's restaurants in the UK are staging the first strike to hit the company in the country.
They are unhappy over poor pay, zero-hour contracts and a lack of union rights. In addition to the strike, they are also holding a protest outside the Houses of Parliament in the capital, London, alongside union workers and politicians.

Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports from London.

[lopici]

$14 billion in profit. That's all unpaid wages.

[pooyah]

yes!!! increase in pay! bread for the workers!!

[jonesnj]

*The McDonald's near me in the UK used to have 6 cashiers, now it has 4 self serve machines and 2 cashiers*

[hydroweapon]

0 hour contracts should go in the bin, agreed
But why should you be paid more for a job that requires no skills?

[cpgone]

Stop eating at McDonalds, Starbucks, etc. I dont
The real problem is robots and automation,
Give it a few short years

[forzabowe]

Why should they pay £15 per hour? Skilled people don’t earn as much

[SimplyKemee]

Where did they get money from to get the t-shirts made?

[zoroastrianisticzoro]

Okay, so no surprises there, the vast majority of people that decided to picket were white British, they're demanding £10 p/h, vast number of people doing these jobs in Hospitality are East European, these people just cracked on with their jobs, not a single utterance of complaint from them, how do these people protesting feel their protest will be a success where minimal disruption is caused to the employer? Do they not feel it would have been a better strategy to picket for a harder Brexit stance so the people doing these hospitality jobs at tuppence are stopped from coming to the country? It's all about supply and demand, there are enough East Europeans to fill the jobs hence wages are going to stay low. End of.

[loft]

But wasn’t McDonald a after school job for teenagers to learn responsibility, and the value of a dollar now everyone try to make a career out of it

[sirhcl]

I'll join no more McDonald's fir me....its not a boycott I'm on strike

[seanmcmanus]

I don't think dangerous is the correct word should be using

[benshivd]

Get Kiosks sooner this way. no need to pay people all that money to screw up your order, spit on your food etc.

[benshivd]

Sure lets give them unions ans 15 bucks. The unions need more $$$ and influence in the government after all. Your political stance be damned in the process.

[ScooperOopers]

lmao don't expect a kind of job to be someones first job to pay someone a wage so that they can live on their own

[--Paws--]

I thought it was different there but I guess McDonald's is the same everywhere

[JDemen]

On strike for more money to prepare customer food orders. Should I go on strike for not receiving my order correctly?

[andybutch]

I worked there for a year in Falkirk and it was honestly a pathetic job, getting no hours, hardly getting trained, bullied if I was upset and the health and safety was shocking the burns I had on my arms and hands were sour and painful and the managers were bullies who would never listen if u were upset or shout at you until u cried, worst industry in the world

[tellingfoxtales]

If they get the pay increase the tillers will just be automated and half of them will be out of a job.

[westcoast]

Strike you might aswell where balclavas how does the public feel.

[heesingsia]

Just automate all the McDonalds. Then when people have no jobs to pay for food the robots can eat all the burgers and fries