On the back of action spreading in recent weeks from Heckmondwike, to Morley and Birstall, then delivery drivers at the Elland Road McDonalds in Beeston on Froday night joined the ongoing strikes in the shadow of the famous football ground.
Iain Dalton, Leeds Socialist Party
Like drivers in those towns, who have also been picketing McDonalds, they are striking both JustEat and UberEats which both operate from McDonalds. This reflects the spreading of the demands of those taking part in the strike, angry at the low pay on both apps, combined with rising fuel costs. Whilst in Sheffield the strike started when JustEat contractor Stuart lowered pay rates, and strikes have been recently targetting Greggs which only uses JustEat, many drivers work on multiple apps and have been concentrating on making a total shutdown of an outlet for a period of time, one day a week.
Whilst I was standing with drivers on the picket lines, although a handful kept working, sometimes a consequence of language barriers, many more drivers engaged with pickets and cancelled orders, leading to a build up of undelivered orders in the McDonalds store.
Drivers in Beeston will shortly hold another meeting to discuss future action, and the Socialist Party will continue to give our full support, as well as mobilising the wider trade union movement in Leeds behind them.