McDonald's workers to be balloted over further strike action

McDonald's workers are to be balloted over further strike action as the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union calls for pay increases and better working conditions.

If members vote in favour of industrial action, six branches of the fast food restaurant could be affected, the union has confirmed.

Ian Hodson, union president, said: "Representatives from six stores attended a meeting and took a decision that they wished to be balloted on industrial action on issues of pay, unequal pay for young workers, and for a choice of fixed hours. The union is committed to supporting its members and campaigning for £10 an hour, and end to zero hour contracts and to give McDonalds workers a voice."

Tristan Bentley, a McDonald's worker in Crayford, added: "Workers across the country came together to decide to ballot for industrial action. We want a better deal.

"We are the McStrikers, and we will not be silent, we will not be scared. We will do whatever it takes to win a better life for all McDonald's workers."

Staff from restaurants in Cambridge and Crayford, London, walked out in the first strikes in the chain's history on British soil in September 2017.

Four months later it was announced that staff working in McDonald's-owned restaurants would receive a pay rise from the end of January 2018. McDonald's employs about 85,000 staff in the UK.

The ballot will close on 16 April.