GMB #£10NOW Manchester Living Wage Demo

#£10NOW GMB Young Members set to demonstrate in Manchester
Event Date: 14. April 2016 - 12:00 to 14:00

Young GMB members across the UK are campaigning alongside the Baker's Union and Fast Food Workers Alliance for a £10 per hour living wage for workers of all ages and an end to zero-hour contracts, in order to make work pay for young people. On Thursday 14 April, a global day of action will take place where fast food and low waged workers across the world will protest for higher pay, union rights and respect and dignity at work. 
To do our bit and make our voice heard we are demonstrating in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens from 12pm outside stores of big brands we know are not giving their young workers a fair deal. 

The main brand we are focusing on this time is McDonalds which has opened its new store in Piccadilly Gardens and has been a key focus for the global fast food rights campaign. In the UK, staff aged 21 and over are paid just above the minimum wage of £6.50ph and 80% of them are on zero-hours contracts (1). Recent figures indicate that 75% of McDonald's workers are under 25 and as a result will not benefit from the Government's misnamed 'National Living Wage' that came in this month (2). All this is coupled with an aggressive tax avoiadance scheme by McDonalds that has been widely condemned by trade unions such as the GMB and other campaign groups (3).

We will also be demonstrating outside M&S, Starbucks and Burger King stores. These brands use Select Service Provider UK Ltd (SSP) to run their franchise outlets where 9,300 staff have been paid close to minimum wage and are mostly on zero-hours contracts. GMB has received complaints of bullying managers and staff being pressured to grovel to supervisors so they can get enough hours work to make ends meet, all whilst SSP makes an after-tax profit of £17 million (4).

We will be meeting by the fountains in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens at 12pm. Piccadilly Gardens is a short 10 minute walk or tram ride from both Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria train stations and has a main bus station adjacent to it. If you are travelling by car there is a carpark just off Portland Street on Abingdon Street which is a 5 minute walk away.

FOR MORE INFO ON OUR CAMPAIGN:

- The last demo National GMB Young Members attended was on 13th January in London with BFAWU and $15 an hour campaigners from the US. Click the link below to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbcgGMBaRwo

- The last #£10NOW demo our Regional Young Members Network organised was also in Manchester Piccadilly Gardens on 10th November 2015 alongside the Baker's Union. Click the link below to watch:https://youtu.be/ima2RzPeyLo

If you have any questions about the demo or want to know more about the #£10NOW campaign and the global Fast Food Rights movement please contact GMB NW&I young member Ross Holden by email at ross_holden@hotmail.co.uk or by phone at 07814273884.