November 19, 2015 3.35 pm This story is over 105 months old

Restaurant workers to march through Lincoln in campaign for £10 per hour

Hungry for justice: Restaurant and fast food outlet workers will descend on Lincoln city centre this weekend for a demonstration over pay packages and zero-hour contracts.
Protestors will meet at the Stonebow in Lincoln at lunchtime on Saturday. Pictured below is a previous BFAWU demo in Manchester.

Restaurant and fast food outlet workers will descend on Lincoln city centre this weekend for a demonstration over pay packages and zero-hour contracts.

The ‘Hungry For Justice’ campaign will see around 50 Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union members march through the city on Saturday, November 21.

Activists, joined by representatives from Lincoln TUC and Unite Union, will call for a rise in the minimum wage to £10 per hour and an end to controversial zero-hour contracts.

The demonstration will begin at the Stonebow on Lincoln High Street at 12 noon, and will officially launch the campaign in the city.

Members of the union all work in the food industry.

Heading the campaign is Jade Clarke from Lincoln, who is a member of staff at Nando’s in the city. She said: “We get treated the best here in comparison to other food outlets. A lot of my friends are in horrible situations with work in the food industry.

“The aim is to motivate and encourage workers in the food industry to challenge the status quo of poverty wages, poor conditions and no respect.

“We’re tired of not getting legal breaks and rest periods between shifts. We’re tired of having broken and unsafe equipment that isn’t replaced or fixed for extended periods.

“We’re fed up with working with harmful chemicals without correct PPE. It’s hard working in temperatures that exceed 30 degrees. It’s also deeply unfair that those under the age of 21 get paid less than those over 21 for doing the same job.

“Most people working within the food industry are young people and they tend to accept exploitation and poor conditions on the premise that they won’t be working in the food industry long.

“No one desires a career in the food industry because you are treated like dirt.”

Steve Day, a food worker on a zero hour contract in the city said: “It’s going to be very exciting! It’s an opportunity to wake young people up to the realities of the world we live in and show them that together, united, we can change it for the better. This is a way to express my anger at the injustice I face as a food worker.”