Socialist Youth Protest - Defend Rates of Pay!

cork | worker & community struggles and protests | event notice Monday July 20, 2009 22:20 by Liam Cullinane - Socialist Youth socialistyouthcork at gmail dot com

Protest against QSFA's attacks on pay and conditions

The Quickservice Food Alliance (A group of fast food employers including McDonalds, Burger King and Supermacs), backed by IBEC, is launching a legal challenge to the Joint Labour Committees that determine rates of pay and wages in the service industry. If they succeed, then 170,000 low paid workers in the service sector will suffer huge pay cuts.

This organisation has already succeeded in attacking young workers. Supermacs in Athlone admitted to breaking the 'Young Persons in Employment Act' where a 16 year old girl was made to work extremely long hours but were let off scot free, setting a dangerous precedent.

QSFA companies are making huge profits and are using the recession to force workers into poverty wages so they can further increase those profits. McDonalds for example increased their profits by 80% in 2008, recording net profits of $4.3 billion!

Workers and young people can fight back though. A campaign in New Zealand unionised thousands of young workers in the fast-food industry. Thousands of young workers stood up to exploitative bosses and went on strike, earning higher wages for their efforts.

We need a campaign here in Ireland that will fight to defend the rights of young and low-paid workers and fight for decent jobs for all. The first step to such a campaign is raising awareness and mobilising young people into action. For that reason Socialist Youth have called a protest for Saturday the 25th of July in Cork City. Anybody who wants to get involved should go to Daunt Sq. at 1pm before moving onto the defacto headquarters of the QSFA on Cook st. at 1.30pm. For more information contact us at socialistyouthcork@gmail.com

qsfa_protest_poster_cork.pdf 0.26 Mb