John McDonnell MP speaking outside a McDonald’s in Oxford St
Zero hours contracts are not contracts of employment, but contracts of unemployment. They prevent workers from taking on other work as they have to be available should the employer need them, but without guaranteeing them any employment. It’s perhaps surprising that they are legal, because there is no ‘consideration’ received by the employee. They are essentially unfair, and I hope a future Labour government will have outlawing them high on its list of measures to be enacted. But then I hoped the last Labour government would do quite a few things and ended up very disappointed with both Blair and Brown. More so with Blair, who turned out to be both a liar and a war criminal as well as a Thatcherite, continuing the attacks on trade unions and workers rights that she began.
So I was eager to photograph the launch of the Fast Food Rights Campaign which aims to put an end to zero hours contracts and abysmal pay for workers in fast food outlets. And the way it is trying to do so is by getting them to join a union.
Not any union but the Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union, BFAWU, an old-estabished union founded in 1847 that has retained its independence and unlike some large and bureaucratic unions still fights for its members. And one of those fights is against zero hours contracts, and its strike action at the Hovis factory in Wigan recently gained a victory against the extended use of these contracts there.
Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union National President Ian Hodson
I’d met the BFAWU National President Ian Hodson last August and been impressed by his speech against zero hours contracts at the Counihan family’s anniversary party. He was one of the speakers at this campaign launch, along with a number of others including Labour MP John McDonnell, one of a handful of Labour MPs who I admire for sticking to their principles when so many seem to have sold out.
John McDonnell MP speaking outside a McDonald’s in Oxford St
I’d met with the protesters just around the corner from where I’d expected to see them, holding a brief rally outside a Burger King, but soon they moved off to a McDonald’s at the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford St. This is one of their lower key establishments with dark green paint and little to really on the outside to indicate what lies within.
Security stopped people with placards going in to McDonalds, but a man takes more leaflets to give out inside
So although I was pleased with some of the pictures, there was little in them to indicate exactly where the protest was taking place. The second McDonald’s we called at, some way along Oxford St had that ugly big M, yellow on red, which made it rather easier to show in photographs.
The brasher McDonald’s look is more obvious
I’d positioned myself here to line up the sign behind the speakers and took some pictures, crouching down a little to get the angle I wanted. Things were going well until I straightened up to my normal height, only to be assaulted by another photographer who had come up behind me and now felt I was getting in the way of his shot. That kind of behaviour just isn’t on. I was there first and if you come up later behind me you’ll have to work over my shoulder; ask me politely and I might crouch for a few seconds, but I certainly don’t expect a colleague to roughly try and push me out of the way. Neither of us got the picture we wanted where with a little sensible cooperation we could both have done.
High contrast inside Costa Coffee
Our next stop was a Costa Coffee just off Oxford St, and while McDonald’s had obviously known we were coming and brought in extra security staff, they seemed to me unaware of what was happening, and the protesters were able to walk inside and hand out leaflets to the workers and customers.
Photographically there was a big problem of contrast, with bright sunlight coming through the large windows. I didn’t want to use flash, at least not when we first went inside as this would have quickly alerted the manager to what was happening and got the protesters asked more quickly to leave, so quite a lot of post-processing was needed to burn down sunlit areas and bring up some of the shadow detail.
Most of the staff and customers seemed interested and not disturbed by the protest, and some were obviously sympathetic, but of course it wasn’t long before the manager asked us all to leave, and we did so, though I had a few seconds to work with flash on my way out. There was a short rally outside before moving off for a repeat performance at a second Costa Coffee on the other side of Oxford St.
The manager argues with a TV cameraman who is just inside the shop doorway
Here again I went inside with the protesters and took some pictures, leaving when asked by the manager. Most of the pictures I took there were with the manager having an argument with a TV reporter who was standing a few inches inside the doorway with a large video camera. By then I was just outside the shop working through the open door, and the argument seemed a little pointless on both sides, other than giving me something to photograph.
After a short rally outside, the protesters decided they had done enough and left very pleased with how the launch of the campaign had gone.
More pictures and text at Hungry for Justice For Fast Food Workers.
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