International solidarity campaign
The UITA (International Union of Food workers) is the driving force behind the “Fight for 15” campaign, which was simultaneously launched in 35 countries. The epicenter of the campaign was in the Americas: fast food employees in the United States and in Mexico earn an average of 7.25 dollars per hour, while the labour unions want to see the minimum wage bumped to 15 dollars (some 11 euro).
“The fast food industry is making huge profits all across the world, so there are definitely means there to increase wages. However, we see that the fast food employers’ stance differs from country to country, even within Europe, while it consists of exactly the same products and work. Big brands also tend to hide behind the franchisees’ independence to run away from their responsibilities”, the labour unions say.
In Belgium, local labour unions agree the 15 dollar goal is already reached, but they feel there are other issues at hand: “The franchise system, the way rental fees are being transferred to tax havens, the very difficult working conditions that persist due to the lack of social dialogue… the industry is circumventing the law so that it does not have to allow union checks”, ACV and ABVV say. No one at McDonald’s was available for comment.
