On 13th January, GMB young members joined members of BFAWU and UK and US fast food workers in a demonstration outside McDonalds in Whitehall, London, calling for a £10 per hour living wage for all fast food workers in the UK and in solidarity with the Fight for $15 living wage campaign in the USA.
The demo included a protest outside the store followed by a march down Whitehall towards Parliament during the height of London rush-hour traffic. Following the demonstration was a forum meeting in Parliament hosted by Fast Food Rights and joined by one of the campaign's founders, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell as well as leading figures from trade union and anti-austerity movements.
Speaking about the demonstration, GMB young member Ross Holden said:
"The amount of publicity the demonstration received and the amount of people who came was amazing despite being shared on social media at short notice!
Outside McDonalds we were given a lot of press attention and great public reception, as demonstrators joined in song and chants with US fast food workers who had travelled all the way to the UK as part of the global campaign for better rights and pay for workers in the fast food industry.
The growing demonstration then took to the streets as over a hundred marched together down Whitehall towards Westminster Palace for the forum, voicing our demand to politicians from outside Parliament for a £10 per hour living wage and an end to insecure work for all."
For more information and updates about GMB Young Members' #£10NOW campaign, please visit our Young Members Campaigns page on our regional website (click here)
