We haven't yet reached the point where McDonalds is an essential service. The staff should be allowed to take whatever industrial action they think fit to improve pay and conditions if they are dissatisfied.
This is the most interesting strike in years, having international aspects (today was chosen as it is Labour day in the USA, and there are strikes there, as well as a number of other countries, and all inspired by the successful NZ actions).
It also is an attempt to unionise and organise a private sector service industry that acts on a global scale to pay minimum wages, subsidised by the state, while raking off the profits for executives and shareholders, and paying very little tax. Time to organise in Starbucks, Amazon, and a few others next.
After all, what is the point of the people having sovereignty if they cannot exercise it? The threat to the people is far more from globalized capitalists than it is from the EU. As I said, Corbyn and McDonnell can surf this wave a lot further.
McDonalds is also vulnerable to quite a bit of its clientele being sensitive to the idea that the company is run at the expense of its workers. It's not as though there was a shortage of fast food joints to choose from. The others may be no better, but the UAW did well in the car industry for a long time by picking on one company at a time.
I think it also very useful for the enthusiastic youth of Momentum to put their efforts and campaigning into such a worthwhile cause. It keeps them match fit, engaged with a young population that feels disenfranchised and sublimates their energies appropriately. They will be streetwise veteran campaigners, and legion in number when the election comes.
Corbyn and co are on the right side of history on this one, and it is the sort of extra parliamentary direct action that can peacefully transform politics here. I applaud them.
With respect you are turning into Corbyn - if you think paying £10 per hour to largely student and trainee workers is warranted why would any employer give them a job when they can pay a similar figure to much more mature employees
Whilst I understand your sentiments, the only surprise is that it has taken so long. We are at full employment in many regions now. We are vowing to crack down on low-skilled immigration. The pool of mature employees to work in McDonald's simply isn't there. We will see more of this. We can't keep these employment levels with little to no wage growth. It is simple economics.
At £10 per hour the pool would be there. However I do agree that young workers up to 25 should have an improvement in their wage rates nearer to the Government's National Living Wage
Yes. I've never really understood the scale of the under-25 differential or its justification. Presumably, at 24 you could have 8 years experience? Maybe an inflation-busting raise in the youth minimum wage is something that could be considered?
ps, having suffered a day at the Metro Centre today, I can confirm that McDonald's employees work bloody hard for their pay!
As for Amazon not paying taxes, as it repeatedly has to be mentioned, they genuinely make bugger all profit on flogging books, dvds etc. They aren't avoiding any taxes on profits on that as there is none to little. The loophole they did exploit was not paying the full whack of uk VAT, but I believe that has been closed now.
Where Amazon make proper money is AWS, which isn't uk based.
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
With respect you are turning into Corbyn - if you think paying £10 per hour to largely student and trainee workers is warranted why would any employer give them a job when they can pay a similar figure to much more mature employees
Whilst I understand your sentiments, the only surprise is that it has taken so long. We are at full employment in many regions now. We are vowing to crack down on low-skilled immigration. The pool of mature employees to work in McDonald's simply isn't there. We will see more of this. We can't keep these employment levels with little to no wage growth. It is simple economics.
At £10 per hour the pool would be there. However I do agree that young workers up to 25 should have an improvement in their wage rates nearer to the Government's National Living Wage
Yes. I've never really understood the scale of the under-25 differential or its justification. Presumably, at 24 you could have 8 years experience? Maybe an inflation-busting raise in the youth minimum wage is something that could be considered?
ps, having suffered a day at the Metro Centre today, I can confirm that McDonald's employees work bloody hard for their pay!
There is room for movement in this area but talk of £10 per hour is off the scale
British Future has a survey showing that 86% want high-skilled immigration from the EU to stay the same or rise post Brexit (including 82% of Leave voters) but 64% of the public (including 50% of Remain voters) want low-skilled immigration from the EU to fall http://www.britishfuture.org/articles/immigration-consensus-after-brexit/
I am one of the 86% and I am one of the 64%
People who study this
I am not claiming this as an argument for more immigration, but simply to point out of it is more complex than skilled immigration good; unskilled bad. If anything, it's better to move up the value chain and buy in the unskilled labour.
I can see your argument but it is voter perception more than anything that wants to reduce unskilled immigration
Because we have (and I am very supportive of this) a generous welfare state.
When I vote for Brexit to stop immigrants undercutting my pay, they call me a patriot. However, when I #mcstrike for higher pay they call me a Communist...
The Tories support for the workers doesn't last very long, does it?
86% of McDonald's workforce want zero hours contracts to remain.
The
I have no problem with ZHC when they are the workers choice*, but very often they are not, and are exploitative ways of making the workers subservient to their masters whims.
* I would suggest that ZHCs should only be permitted in unionised workplaces where the shop steward authorises it following discussion with the stakeholders, and the employee in particular.
I don't see why it should be up to a Shop Steward to decide.
Just my suggestion, so that the employee has protection from exploitative practices.
Why should the state subsidise these companies with in work benefits, when they pay no taxes and offshore profits? If their business model only works on the basis that society picks up the costs while they pick up the profits, what has been the gain for the nation?
As the Good Book says "The worker is worthy of his hire"
I have not heard that Macdonalds is a bad employer, but I know nothing about the rights and wrongs of this particular dispute. I doubt if Corbyn does, either.
We haven't yet reached the point where McDonalds is an essential service. The staff should be allowed to take whatever industrial action they think fit to improve pay and conditions if they are dissatisfied.
This is the most interesting strike in years, having international aspects (today was chosen as it is Labour day in the USA, and there are strikes there, as well as a number of other countries, and all inspired by the successful NZ actions).
It also is an attempt to unionise and organise a private sector service industry that acts on a global scale to pay minimum wages, subsidised by the state, while raking off the profits for executives and shareholders, and paying very little tax. Time to organise in Starbucks, Amazon, and a few others next.
After all, what is the point of the people having sovereignty if they cannot exercise it? The threat to the people is far more from globalized capitalists than it is from the EU. As I said, Corbyn and McDonnell can surf this wave a lot further.
McDonalds is also vulnerable to quite a bit of its clientele being sensitive to the idea that the company is run at the expense of its workers. It's not as though there was a shortage of fast food joints to choose from. The others may be no better, but the UAW did well in the car industry for a long time by picking on one company at a time.
I think it also very useful for the enthusiastic youth of Momentum to put their efforts and campaigning into such a worthwhile cause. It keeps them match fit, engaged with a young population that feels disenfranchised and sublimates their energies appropriately. They will be streetwise veteran campaigners, and legion in number when the election comes.
Corbyn and co are on the right side of history on this one, and it is the sort of extra parliamentary direct action that can peacefully transform politics here. I applaud them.
Be careful what you wish for.
The last 'extra parliamentary' direct action was Brexit. Perhaps the next will be NHS customers for banning private practise, or Londoners for automated tubes.
Producer interests are very strongly protected by regulation. Consumer interests, especially in public provision, far less so.
The next issue is that McDonalds is a brand and a strong brand that self consciously identifies as a brand and puts enormous resources into maintaining and defining that brand. So strike action isn't just supply and demand for labour. Frankly the reason McDonalds doesn't pay more is because it doesn't need to in terms of attracting sufficient labour. But it may need to pay more to maintain it's brand. Does it's employment practices pass the smell test by it's customer base.
I'm afraid in post Brexit, post Corbyn Britain many of McDonalds customers will be sneakily sympathetic to deal of badly paid workers " Taking back control ". And as we've established facts and economics need no longer concern is when identity and anomie are concerned.
These pay awards need reigning in and need to be performance related
Quite. Seems the Government has at last picked the right fight.
Looks like Theresa May is going big on her agenda with the abolition of the pay cap, performance related pay in the public sector, a big speech on Europe due by the 21st September, and a cabinet re- shuffle.
Also if you go to a McDonalds there are a number of counter intuitive ethical stances. Only British and Irish Beef, only Free Range Eggs, organic Milk, RSPCA approved Freedom Food status for it's Pork, only Chicken Breast meat, in-store recycling points and a no Landfill target, reuse f frying oil as biofuel...
There is an argument that striking workers are just marginally ahead of the management on the pay/ZHC issue. The Brand has clearly been engaging with many of these ethical issues for years. So why is low pay an anathema ?
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
Then there is the curious onshoring of McDonalds non US tax base n the UK - which many were happy to spin as a post Brexit sucess - as an EC investigation. So why should economic populism stop there ? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38252802
Also if you go to a McDonalds there are a number of counter intuitive ethical stances. Only British and Irish Beef, only Free Range Eggs, organic Milk, RSPCA approved Freedom Food status for it's Pork, only Chicken Breast meat, in-store recycling points and a no Landfill target, reuse f frying oil as biofuel...
There is an argument that striking workers are just marginally ahead of the management on the pay/ZHC issue. The Brand has clearly been engaging with many of these ethical issues for years. So why is low pay an anathema ?
I dont think McDonalds is a bad as some, but it is perhaps a reasonable place to start as it is so keen to maintain a cool image with its target demographic. McDonalds is frightened of tainting that reputation. It took a lot of time to get over the own goal of the Mclibel campaign.
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
I will repeat myself...
McDonald's the corporate entity providing the "ethical" food etc don't own the restaurants that the workers are complaining about low pay in.
Amazon the retailer does make some money, but not much in having massive warehouses of product (and what they do make goes into expansion and technologicsl advances).
But Amazon isn't really a retailer at all, they are a tech company. For example their deal with netflixs makes them way more than all that flogging books nonsense. and bezos is mega wealthy because of the stock price of a tech company which investors think has amazing tech / ip that few can match.
Investors actually want Amazon to start charging more for the likes of aws and making more profit, but bezos resists this.
Of the ones commonly mentioned as taking the piss on tax, Starbucks is the one that is genuinely exploiting every loophole while making big margins. Although interestingly the margins aren't as big as reported for a number of complex reasons.
Then there is the curious onshoring of McDonalds non US tax base n the UK - which many were happy to spin as a post Brexit sucess - as an EC investigation. So why should economic populism stop there ? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38252802
That was McDonalds skipping town ahead of the law, methinks:
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
I will repeat myself...
McDonald's the corporate entity providing the "ethical" food etc don't own the restaurants that the workers are complaining about low pay in.
Amazon the retailer does make some money, but not much in having massive warehouses of product (and what they do make goes into expansion and technologicsl advances).
But Amazon isn't really a retailer at all, they are a tech company. For example their deal with netflixs makes them way more than all that flogging books nonsense. and bezos is mega wealthy because of the stock price of a tech company which investors think has amazing tech / ip that few can match. Investors actually want Amazon to start charging more for the likes of aws and making more profit, but bezos resists this.
Bezos is the richest man in the world, his Leics workers are paid minimum wage. If you cannot see why that is not a tolerable or sustainable state then I do not know where to start...
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
I will repeat myself...
McDonald's the corporate entity providing the "ethical" food etc don't own the restaurants that the workers are complaining about low pay in.
Amazon the retailer does make some money, but not much in having massive warehouses of product (and what they do make goes into expansion and technologicsl advances).
But Amazon isn't really a retailer at all, they are a tech company. For example their deal with netflixs makes them way more than all that flogging books nonsense. and bezos is mega wealthy because of the stock price of a tech company which investors think has amazing tech / ip that few can match. Investors actually want Amazon to start charging more for the likes of aws and making more profit, but bezos resists this.
Bezos is the richest man in the world, his Leics workers are paid minimum wage. If you cannot see why that is not a tolerable or sustainable state then I do not know where to start...
So you are saying he should turn his warehouse business into a loss making enterprise?
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
I will repeat myself...
McDonald's the corporate entity providing the "ethical" food etc don't own the restaurants that the workers are complaining about low pay in.
Amazon the retailer does make some money, but not much in having massive warehouses of product (and what they do make goes into expansion and technologicsl advances).
But Amazon isn't really a retailer at all, they are a tech company. For example their deal with netflixs makes them way more than all that flogging books nonsense. and bezos is mega wealthy because of the stock price of a tech company which investors think has amazing tech / ip that few can match. Investors actually want Amazon to start charging more for the likes of aws and making more profit, but bezos resists this.
Bezos is the richest man in the world, his Leics workers are paid minimum wage. If you cannot see why that is not a tolerable or sustainable state then I do not know where to start...
So you are saying he should turn his warehouse business into a loss making enterprise?
The paradox of strikes in post Thatcher Britain is that they are heavily concentrated in the parts of the economy that least need them. The figures are stark. Strike days are overwhelmingly the preserve of public services and faux privatised state monopolies like the railways. See a strike and you nearly always see a heavily unionised workforce with ( relatively ) strong employment terms working for a state service who's provider can be a influenced by alternative democratic means. And in the public sector strikes are often about resisting change rather than wage levels per se.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
I will repeat myself...
McDonald's the corporate entity providing the "ethical" food etc don't own the restaurants that the workers are complaining about low pay in.
Amazon the retailer does make some money, but not much in having massive warehouses of product (and what they do make goes into expansion and technologicsl advances).
But Amazon isn't really a retailer at all, they are a tech company. For example their deal with netflixs makes them way more than all that flogging books nonsense. and bezos is mega wealthy because of the stock price of a tech company which investors think has amazing tech / ip that few can match. Investors actually want Amazon to start charging more for the likes of aws and making more profit, but bezos resists this.
Bezos is the richest man in the world, his Leics workers are paid minimum wage. If you cannot see why that is not a tolerable or sustainable state then I do not know where to start...
So you are saying he should turn his warehouse business into a loss making enterprise?
Nope, I am suggesting that some of his wealth made from his stock growth should be paid to his workers in the form of higher wages.
Also if you go to a McDonalds there are a number of counter intuitive ethical stances. Only British and Irish Beef, only Free Range Eggs, organic Milk, RSPCA approved Freedom Food status for it's Pork, only Chicken Breast meat, in-store recycling points and a no Landfill target, reuse f frying oil as biofuel...
There is an argument that striking workers are just marginally ahead of the management on the pay/ZHC issue. The Brand has clearly been engaging with many of these ethical issues for years. So why is low pay an anathema ?
I dont think McDonalds is a bad as some, but it is perhaps a reasonable place to start as it is so keen to maintain a cool image with its target demographic. McDonalds is frightened of tainting that reputation. It took a lot of time to get over the own goal of the Mclibel campaign.
For those that have forgotten the McLibel verdict:
"Specifically, Bell ruled McDonald's endangered the health of their workers and customers by "misleading advertising", and they "exploit children", that they were "culpably responsible" in the infliction of unnecessary cruelty to animals, and they were "antipathetic"[16] to unionisation and paid their workers low wages.[17] "
And none of us yet know if Brexit populism has escaped the lab, though Corbyn's relative sucess in June gives a chilling indication. The Leave campaign sold Brexit as a Strike. We collectively act to restrict the supply of labour so our wages will go up. The fact the campaign was largely run by people that know that's ****** is neither here nor there. If you validate economic populism via an epochal national referendum why should the intellectual virus stay in the lab ? Why is " My wages are low because if immigrants " good but " my wages are low because of Fat Cats " bad ?
As ever too many right wing Brexiteers want to welch on the Faustian bargain they struck now they are enjoying the prize but the Devil has turned up to collect.
Don't tell anyone but I'm an economic liberal. 18 months ago I'd have told McDonalds workers that if your existing skills and experience mean you have to work at n McDonalds then the market rate is " fair ". Improve your skills and experience. It's the only way.
But now ? The Centre hasn't held. The liberal Atlas has Shrugged. Apparently there is a magic money tree after all. If angry pensioners in Skegness are the Yeomen of Agincourt for voting Leave why are angry youths from McDonalds communists for striking for better pay ?
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
Isn't it time you joined the light side? I know you have reservations on macroeconomic policy, but FWIW I think McDonnell is hard-headed and has no wish to turn the first seriously left-wing government into a disaster. In other respects, might you like to be welcomed home?
And none of us yet know if Brexit populism has escaped the lab, though Corbyn's relative sucess in June gives a chilling indication. The Leave campaign sold Brexit as a Strike. We collectively act to restrict the supply of labour so our wages will go up. The fact the campaign was largely run by people that know that's ****** is neither here nor there. If you validate economic populism via an epochal national referendum why should the intellectual virus stay in the lab ? Why is " My wages are low because if immigrants " good but " my wages are low because of Fat Cats " bad ?
As ever too many right wing Brexiteers want to welch on the Faustian bargain they struck now they are enjoying the prize but the Devil has turned up to collect.
Don't tell anyone but I'm an economic liberal. 18 months ago I'd have told McDonalds workers that if your existing skills and experience mean you have to work at n McDonalds then the market rate is " fair ". Improve your skills and experience. It's the only way.
But now ? The Centre hasn't held. The liberal Atlas has Shrugged. Apparently there is a magic money tree after all. If angry pensioners in Skegness are the Yeomen of Agincourt for voting Leave why are angry youths from McDonalds communists for striking for better pay ?
Be careful what we wish for.
Very eloquently put. Populism is not a genie that will go back into the bottle, and now Corbyn rather than Farage is driving the wagon.
Final point but McDonalds may actually need better paid workers to sustain it's recent turn around. Yes it's attempted to automate aspects of ordering but it's also introduced table service, in-store computers for customer browsing and a more upmarket menu.
In my experience it doesn't work because the staff haven't bought into it and all look miserable and hate their jobs. If McDonalds has had to attempt to go upmarket to halt falling sales isn't investment in staff part of that ?
And we've seen this in the supermarket industry. Despite the absolute carnage brought about by ALDI/LIDL at the bottom and M & S/Waitrose at the bottom the whole industry has seen big increases in basic pay.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
Isn't it time you joined the light side? I know you have reservations on macroeconomic policy, but FWIW I think McDonnell is hard-headed and has no wish to turn the first seriously left-wing government into a disaster. In other respects, might you like to be welcomed home?
I left Labour over the Iraq war, and privatisation of the NHS. In many ways I departed stage left!
As you may have gathered, I am a strong advocate of Trade Unions as the essential watchdogs on exploitative employers.
I entirely agree. There is a desperate need for effective unionisation of these private sector companies to rebalance with the rights of state employees. It should be a levelling up, not a levelling down.
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
Isn't it time you joined the light side? I know you have reservations on macroeconomic policy, but FWIW I think McDonnell is hard-headed and has no wish to turn the first seriously left-wing government into a disaster. In other respects, might you like to be welcomed home?
I left Labour over the Iraq war, and privatisation of the NHS. In many ways I departed stage left!
As you may have gathered, I am a strong advocate of Trade Unions as the essential watchdogs on exploitative employers.
A balanced budget would clinch it. I hate debt.
Balanced budgets are a feature of classical Marxist economics. (Deficits are an unearned transfer from Labour to Capital) IF McDonnell is a Marxist, he will deliver a balanced budget.
Final point but McDonalds may actually need better paid workers to sustain it's recent turn around. Yes it's attempted to automate aspects of ordering but it's also introduced table service, in-store computers for customer browsing and a more upmarket menu.
In my experience it doesn't work because the staff haven't bought into it and all look miserable and hate their jobs. If McDonalds has had to attempt to go upmarket to halt falling sales isn't investment in staff part of that ?
And we've seen this in the supermarket industry. Despite the absolute carnage brought about by ALDI/LIDL at the bottom and M & S/Waitrose at the bottom the whole industry has seen big increases in basic pay.
I believe that ALDI and Lidl both pay reasonably well for the sector and are good employers with a German sense of social responsibility. They make their savings in other areas.
Loyalty goes both ways. Companies that look after their employees get looked after by their employees.
30 years ago, I did work for 3 months as a short order cook in a Wimpy Bar. It was hard work, and paid poorly (£1.65 ph wasn't much even in the Eighties). It was fun, and the camaraderie good. There were 20 of us, and the oldest 24. It was an interesting inverted society with the permanent staff all unqualified, and the summer staff all A level students off to University. I learnt many things, and saw firsthand a lot of life, including sexual harrassment, skiving, and stock shrinkage. It was an eyeopener.
As it stands, the top military option is just as likely to be a Special Operation against one to three key sites related to the missile development program than some kind of air or missile assault.
Its high risk but less overt than say shooting some missiles. Its also tough to retaliate against if its a ghost job.
Do not assume this would be purely a US venture either. The South Koreans are trained to do this.
I had the misfortune to watch an hour of the X Factor on Sunday when visiting my mum. It's jaw dropping how Brexity it is. You could see Cowbell creaming himself at the prospect of a Leave vs Remain final between the vanilla rough trade Plaster and the talented, articulate, queer , Oxonian duo. It's always been there since the shows inception but they've really ramped it up and made it concious. Explicit back stories of powerlessness, pain, failure and unfulfilled potential. All to be redeemed by betting the lot on winning the X Factor. Entering as asking back control despite stacks of evidence even winning leads you nowhere. .
I think McDonalds needs to be seen through this prism. The strike almost certainly won't get through the Audition stage but folk don't care anymore. Narrative Donald Trumps Logic, economics and old paradigms.
So Good luck to the McDonald's workers. They'll need it of course because even if they win higher wages alone just feed the rentier class. But that's the kind of thing experts would tell you. No, self actualisation and control should be for everyone not just right wing atlanticist elites designing Referendum campaigns. Good Luck to them.
Got soaked two days in a row during my little Scottish adventure - yesterday on Loch Lomond, and today in Edinburgh!
Anyway, managed to add (since Saturday) the following railway territory:
Carlisle to Glasgow Central Glasgow Charing Cross to Balloch (via Anniesland) Glasgow Subway (both directions!) Charing Cross to Edinburgh Haymarket York Place to Edinburgh Airport (Tram) Haymarket to Glasgow Queen Street (via Falkirk High).
I had the misfortune to watch an hour of the X Factor on Sunday when visiting my mum. It's jaw dropping how Brexity it is. You could see Cowbell creaming himself at the prospect of a Leave vs Remain final between the vanilla rough trade Plaster and the talented, articulate, queer , Oxonian duo. It's always been there since the shows inception but they've really ramped it up and made it concious. Explicit back stories of powerlessness, pain, failure and unfulfilled potential. All to be redeemed by betting the lot on winning the X Factor. Entering as asking back control despite stacks of evidence even winning leads you nowhere. .
I think McDonalds needs to be seen through this prism. The strike almost certainly won't get through the Audition stage but folk don't care anymore. Narrative Donald Trumps Logic, economics and old paradigms.
So Good luck to the McDonald's workers. They'll need it of course because even if they win higher wages alone just feed the rentier class. But that's the kind of thing experts would tell you. No, self actualisation and control should be for everyone not just right wing atlanticist elites designing Referendum campaigns. Good Luck to them.
I think the strike may well get nowhere, but the struggle will continue, as it did after Brunswick etc.
There are plenty of non voters out there, pissed off how our political class has marginalised them. This sort of street level activism is what will get them engaged, rather than sterile Brexit debates.
I had the misfortune to watch an hour of the X Factor on Sunday when visiting my mum. It's jaw dropping how Brexity it is. You could see Cowbell creaming himself at the prospect of a Leave vs Remain final between the vanilla rough trade Plaster and the talented, articulate, queer , Oxonian duo. It's always been there since the shows inception but they've really ramped it up and made it concious. Explicit back stories of powerlessness, pain, failure and unfulfilled potential. All to be redeemed by betting the lot on winning the X Factor. Entering as asking back control despite stacks of evidence even winning leads you nowhere. .
I think McDonalds needs to be seen through this prism. The strike almost certainly won't get through the Audition stage but folk don't care anymore. Narrative Donald Trumps Logic, economics and old paradigms.
So Good luck to the McDonald's workers. They'll need it of course because even if they win higher wages alone just feed the rentier class. But that's the kind of thing experts would tell you. No, self actualisation and control should be for everyone not just right wing atlanticist elites designing Referendum campaigns. Good Luck to them.
How much do the EU's Barmy-er and Juncker earn compared to a McDonald's worker?
Theresa May needs to do something that will make the public revise the opinion that they've already formed of her. Since the opinion that they've formed of her is that she's too awkward, slow-thinking and out-of-touch, it's going to need to be pretty spectacular.
Theresa May needs to do something that will make the public revise the opinion that they've already formed of her. Since the opinion that they've formed of her is that she's too awkward, slow-thinking and out-of-touch, it's going to need to be pretty spectacular.
Return of capital punishment.
There was some speculation the autumn equinox timing of her Brexit intervention might herald some kind of pagan ritual sacrifice.
Gerry Adams is going to make a "significant address" tomorrow morning. Some speculation he will resign. Perhaps he sees himself as an obstacle to bold solutions for Brexit.
Gerry Adams is going to make a "significant address" tomorrow morning. Some speculation he will resign. Perhaps he sees himself as an obstacle to bold solutions for Brexit.
Comments
Corbyn and co are on the right side of history on this one, and it is the sort of extra parliamentary direct action that can peacefully transform politics here. I applaud them.
Yes. I've never really understood the scale of the under-25 differential or its justification. Presumably, at 24 you could have 8 years experience?
Maybe an inflation-busting raise in the youth minimum wage is something that could be considered?
ps, having suffered a day at the Metro Centre today, I can confirm that McDonald's employees work bloody hard for their pay!
Can't get blockquote to work!
Where Amazon make proper money is AWS, which isn't uk based.
Rather like the paradox of Obesity and Smoking now being diseases of the poor not the rich Striking has been shunned by those that would most benefit and owned by those in the strongest position in the first place.
This is one reason the McDonalds strikes are the most interesting in years.
Maybe an inflation-busting raise in the youth minimum wage is something that could be considered?
ps, having suffered a day at the Metro Centre today, I can confirm that McDonald's employees work bloody hard for their pay!
There is room for movement in this area but talk of £10 per hour is off the scale
https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/904819476855697408
One of my best.
The last 'extra parliamentary' direct action was Brexit. Perhaps the next will be NHS customers for banning private practise, or Londoners for automated tubes.
Producer interests are very strongly protected by regulation. Consumer interests, especially in public provision, far less so.
I'm afraid in post Brexit, post Corbyn Britain many of McDonalds customers will be sneakily sympathetic to deal of badly paid workers " Taking back control ". And as we've established facts and economics need no longer concern is when identity and anomie are concerned.
Interesting times ahead over the coming months
Incoherence?
There is an argument that striking workers are just marginally ahead of the management on the pay/ZHC issue. The Brand has clearly been engaging with many of these ethical issues for years. So why is low pay an anathema ?
Increases in minimum wages, reductions in dependence on state subsidisation, and targetting of offshore profits are all policies that the Tory governments have spoken of, but I think Corbyn can deliver these so much more effectively.
Amazon may not declare a profit, but Bezos is now spoken of as possibly the richest man on the planet, while his workers in his Leics distribution centre slave on minimum wage and spartan conditions. It is a problem that needs addressing if capitalism is to survive.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38252802
McDonald's the corporate entity providing the "ethical" food etc don't own the restaurants that the workers are complaining about low pay in.
Amazon the retailer does make some money, but not much in having massive warehouses of product (and what they do make goes into expansion and technologicsl advances).
But Amazon isn't really a retailer at all, they are a tech company. For example their deal with netflixs makes them way more than all that flogging books nonsense. and bezos is mega wealthy because of the stock price of a tech company which investors think has amazing tech / ip that few can match.
Investors actually want Amazon to start charging more for the likes of aws and making more profit, but bezos resists this.
Of the ones commonly mentioned as taking the piss on tax, Starbucks is the one that is genuinely exploiting every loophole while making big margins. Although interestingly the margins aren't as big as reported for a number of complex reasons.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38255087
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41151962
BUT, a clarification !
"Specifically, Bell ruled McDonald's endangered the health of their workers and customers by "misleading advertising", and they "exploit children", that they were "culpably responsible" in the infliction of unnecessary cruelty to animals, and they were "antipathetic"[16] to unionisation and paid their workers low wages.[17] "
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLibel_case
I have one of the original leaflets somewhere, given to me outside the Tooting McDonalds in the Eighties.
These big brands are really quite vulnerable.
As ever too many right wing Brexiteers want to welch on the Faustian bargain they struck now they are enjoying the prize but the Devil has turned up to collect.
Don't tell anyone but I'm an economic liberal. 18 months ago I'd have told McDonalds workers that if your existing skills and experience mean you have to work at n McDonalds then the market rate is " fair ". Improve your skills and experience. It's the only way.
But now ? The Centre hasn't held. The liberal Atlas has Shrugged. Apparently there is a magic money tree after all. If angry pensioners in Skegness are the Yeomen of Agincourt for voting Leave why are angry youths from McDonalds communists for striking for better pay ?
Be careful what we wish for.
Labour. 42
Cons. 41
Libs. 6
Ukip. 4
In my experience it doesn't work because the staff haven't bought into it and all look miserable and hate their jobs. If McDonalds has had to attempt to go upmarket to halt falling sales isn't investment in staff part of that ?
And we've seen this in the supermarket industry. Despite the absolute carnage brought about by ALDI/LIDL at the bottom and M & S/Waitrose at the bottom the whole industry has seen big increases in basic pay.
As you may have gathered, I am a strong advocate of Trade Unions as the essential watchdogs on exploitative employers.
A balanced budget would clinch it. I hate debt.
Loyalty goes both ways. Companies that look after their employees get looked after by their employees.
30 years ago, I did work for 3 months as a short order cook in a Wimpy Bar. It was hard work, and paid poorly (£1.65 ph wasn't much even in the Eighties). It was fun, and the camaraderie good. There were 20 of us, and the oldest 24. It was an interesting inverted society with the permanent staff all unqualified, and the summer staff all A level students off to University. I learnt many things, and saw firsthand a lot of life, including sexual harrassment, skiving, and stock shrinkage. It was an eyeopener.
As it stands, the top military option is just as likely to be a Special Operation against one to three key sites related to the missile development program than some kind of air or missile assault.
Its high risk but less overt than say shooting some missiles. Its also tough to retaliate against if its a ghost job.
Do not assume this would be purely a US venture either. The South Koreans are trained to do this.
I think McDonalds needs to be seen through this prism. The strike almost certainly won't get through the Audition stage but folk don't care anymore. Narrative Donald Trumps Logic, economics and old paradigms.
So Good luck to the McDonald's workers. They'll need it of course because even if they win higher wages alone just feed the rentier class. But that's the kind of thing experts would tell you. No, self actualisation and control should be for everyone not just right wing atlanticist elites designing Referendum campaigns. Good Luck to them.
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2017/09/04/halo-could-be-used-to-show-who-is-leading-the-championship-todt
Anyway, managed to add (since Saturday) the following railway territory:
Carlisle to Glasgow Central
Glasgow Charing Cross to Balloch (via Anniesland)
Glasgow Subway (both directions!)
Charing Cross to Edinburgh Haymarket
York Place to Edinburgh Airport (Tram)
Haymarket to Glasgow Queen Street (via Falkirk High).
I think Tuesday's weather will be better - I hope
There are plenty of non voters out there, pissed off how our political class has marginalised them. This sort of street level activism is what will get them engaged, rather than sterile Brexit debates.
http://www.irishnews.com/news/2017/09/05/news/new-book-labels-gerry-adams-a-millionaire--1127893/