Employees at two McDonald's restaurants in the UK have voted in favour of industrial action, meaning the fast-food chain could be about to face its first ever strike in Britain.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) said staff wanted more secure working hours and a £10 an hour wage. It added that workers wanted the recognition of the right to form a trade union as employees of the company.

Workers in restaurants in Cambridge and Crayford, near London, voted overwhelmingly for strike action.

Read more: A new Night Tube map will help Londoners find a midnight McDonald's

"Many workers have said they feel they have no alternative but to take action due to this unfair treatment, and in line with their basic workplace rights and company procedures," the BFAWU said.

McDonald's employs around 85,000 staff in the UK and one million worldwide.

A spokesman for McDonald's said: "We can confirm that, following a ballot process, the BFAWU have indicated that a small number of our employees representing less than 0.01 per cent of our workforce are intending to strike in two of our restaurants.

"As per the terms of the ballot, the dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures."

In April, the company announced staff would be given a choice of flexible or fixed contracts with minimum guaranteed hours.

Read more: Tasty results push McDonald's shares to an all-time high </s> Workers at a Cambridge McDonald's are set to strike in what would be the first UK walk-out in the fast food giant's history

The Cambridge store is one of two across the UK where a total of 40 workers are being balloted by the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU). The other store is in Crayford, London.

If the ballot is successful, it will be the first time in the company's history that McDonald's workers have taken strike action in the UK.

The union claims that members have been left with no alternative after the company radically cut employee hours, and workers made bullying allegations.

McDonald's workers are also unhappy with the company's continued use of zero-hours contracts, despite promises of guaranteed hours.

The union claims its members have been forced out of their homes after finding themselves unable to meet their rent payments.

Workers will be striking for a fair wage of £10 per hour, and the recognition of their right to form a trade union as employees of the company.

Tom Holliday, a McDonald’s worker at the Cambridge store, said: “McDonald’s is a multinational corporation with unacceptable working conditions.

“We are asking to be treated with dignity and to be paid a decent wage, and for our right to form a union to be recognized by our employer.

“McDonald’s must consider reinvesting its huge amount of net profits back into its work force.

“We believe it is our right to ask for a fair treatment for the hard work we perform.”

The strike forms part of a growing global workers movement fighting for fairness.

In the USA, McDonald's have come under significant pressure as part of the “Fight for $15” campaign – supported by the Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU). More than 10 million workers in the USA find themselves currently on the path to $15 an hour as a result of the efforts of the campaign.

The outcome of the strike ballot is thought to be announced next week.

McDonald's has been contacted for comment by the News.

However, a spokesman told Vice.com : "We can confirm that the BFAWU are balloting a small number of our employees about possible industrial action. We have been told that the dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures.

"We are proud of our people at McDonald's, they are at the heart of all we do and we work hard to ensure that our teams are treated fairly. Our internal processes underpin that commitment. " </s> Workers at a Cambridge McDonald's have voted to go on strike, in the first walkout in the food giant's history.

The result of a ballot of 40 workers at two stores was announced today (August 18), with 95.7 per cent of employees in favour of the walkout.

The workers in Cambridge and Crayford, London, are striking over McDonald's not dealing with their grievances and using zero-hours contracts.

They are also calling for a £10 minimum wage, less insecure working hours, acceptable working conditions and the right to form a trade union.

The strike, organised by the Bakers', Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), will be the first in the UK history of McDonald's.

A meeting is being held over the coming weekend to decide when the strike action will take place, with the outcome set to be announced early next week.

The decision comes after the "Fight for $15" campaign in the USA pressured McDonalds to improve wages.

Ian Hodson, national president of the BFAWU: “We, at the BFAWU, fully support the historic decision by these brave McDonald’s workers to stand up and fight back against McDonald’s – a company that has let them down one too many times.

“McDonald’s has had countless opportunities to resolve grievances by offering workers a fair wage and acceptable working conditions. Instead, they have chosen to ignore their workers by tightening their purse strings – filling their CEO’s pockets, at the expense of workers here in the UK and across the world.”

“This is a call for change. Our members demand to be listened too - they have a right to get their voice heard. Hopefully, senior figures at McDonald’s will be listening, because this behaviour cannot go on any longer.”

A McDonald's spokesperson told the News : "We can confirm that, following a ballot process, the BFAWU have indicated that a small number of our employees representing less than 0.01% of our workforce are intending to strike in two of our restaurants. As per the terms of the ballot, the dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures.

“We are proud of our people at McDonald's, they are at the heart of all we do and we work hard to ensure that our teams are treated fairly. Our internal processes underpin that commitment." </s> 40 McDonald's workers from two restaurants (one on Cambridge and the other in Crayford) are on the road to going on strike, after the Bakers', Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) announced it was balloting members. If that ballot is successful, it'll be the first time any of the fast food giant's employees have gone on strike in the UK.

The union says its been left with no alternative following allegations of bullying and reduced hours. Workers are apparently also fed up with zero-hour contracts, and despite the promise of guaranteed hours the union claims employees have been forced out of their home after they were unable to pay rent. Striking workers will also call for a £10 wage, and the right for employees to unionise.

McDonald's employees in the UK seem to be taking inspiration from their US colleagues, who have been campaigning for a $15 per hour wage for quite some time.

McDonald's contacted VICE with their own statement, saying:

"We can confirm that the BFAWU are balloting a small number of our employees about possible industrial action. We have been told that the dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures. We are proud of our people at McDonald's, they are at the heart of all we do and we work hard to ensure that our teams are treated fairly. Our internal processes underpin that commitment. " </s> Workers at two restaurants in England have voted to strike in what would be the first industrial action taken against the fast-food chain in Britain

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

McDonald’s could face its first strike on British soil after workers at two of the fast-food chain’s outlets backed a call for industrial action.

Staff at restaurants in Cambridge and in Crayford, south-east London, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike amid concerns over working conditions and the use of zero-hour contracts.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union said staff were demanding a wage of at least £10 an hour and more secure working hours alongside the recognition of the right to form a trade union as employees of the company.

In a statement, the BFAWU said: “Workers have found themselves living on low wages with no guarantee of hours. This has been viewed by some as punishment for joining a union, and has seen employees struggle to meet their rent payments, whilst some have even lost their homes.”

The UK “national living wage” stands at £7.50 for workers aged 25 and over. Those aged 21 to 24 are entitled to the national minimum wage of £7.05.

McDonald’s staff in the US are leading a campaign to be paid $15 (£11.65) an hour, supported by the Service Employees International Union.

Ian Hodson, BFAWU national president, said: “We at the BFAWU fully support the historic decision by these brave McDonald’s workers to stand up and fight back against McDonald’s, a company that has let them down one too many times.

“McDonald’s has had countless opportunities to resolve grievances by offering workers a fair wage and acceptable working conditions. This is a call for change.”

McDonald’s, which employs around 85,000 staff in the UK and 1 million worldwide, announced in April that workers would be offered a choice of flexible or fixed contracts with minimum guaranteed hours.

The move followed trials in 23 restaurants, which will be extended to 50 more sites before being rolled out nationally.

It also promised that by May workers paid by the hour will have received an average hourly pay increase of 17% over the past two years.

A spokesman for McDonald’s said: “We can confirm that, following a ballot process, the BFAWU have indicated that a small number of our employees representing less than 0.01% of our workforce are intending to strike in two of our restaurants.

“As per the terms of the ballot, the dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures. We are proud of our people at McDonald’s. They are at the heart of all we do and we work hard to ensure that our teams are treated fairly. Our internal processes underpin that commitment.” </s> US fast-food giant McDonald’s could face its first strike on British soil after workers at two restaurants backed a call for industrial action.

Staff at restaurants in Cambridge and Crayford, near London, have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike, amid concerns over working conditions and the use of zero-hour contracts.

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) said staff were demanding a wage of at least £10 per hour and more secure working hours, alongside the recognition of the right to form a trade union as employees of the company.

In a statement the BFAWU said: “Workers have found themselves living on low wages with no guarantee of hours.

“This has been viewed by some as punishment for joining a union, and has seen employees struggle to meet their rent payments, whilst some have even lost their homes.”

The UK National Living Wage stands at £7.50 for workers aged 25 and over, and £7.05 for those aged 21 to 24.

McDonald’s staff in America are leading a campaign to be paid 15 US dollars (£11.65) an hour, supported by the Service Employee’s International Union.

Ian Hodson, BFAWU national president, said: “We, at the BFAWU, fully support the historic decision by these brave McDonald’s workers to stand up and fight back against McDonald’s – a company that has let them down one too many times.

“McDonald’s has had countless opportunities to resolve grievances by offering workers a fair wage and acceptable working conditions. This is a call for change.”

McDonald’s, which employs around 85,000 staff in the UK and one million worldwide, announced in April that workers would be offered a choice of flexible or fixed contracts with minimum guaranteed hours.

The move followed trials in 23 restaurants, which will be extended to 50 more sites before rolling out nationally across the year.

It also promised by May that hourly-paid workers will have received an average hourly pay increase of 17% over the past two years.

A spokesman for McDonald’s said: “We can confirm that, following a ballot process, the BFAWU have indicated that a small number of our employees representing less that 0.01% of our workforce are intending to strike in two of our restaurants.

“As per the terms of the ballot, the dispute is solely related to our internal grievance procedures.

“We are proud of our people at McDonald’s, they are at the heart of all we do and we work hard to ensure that our teams are treated fairly.

Rebecca Long-Bailey, Labour’s Shadow Secretary for Business, Environment and Industrial Strategy, said: “The strike at McDonald’s is motivated by working people coming together to fight for decent pay and working conditions.

“The next Labour government will stand up for workers and transform the workplace by introducing a £10-an-hour minimum wage by 2020 and enforcing all workers’ rights to trade union representation.” </s> News that President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Andrew Puzder to be Secretary of Labor has advocates for low-wage workers up in arms.

Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast food restaurants.

The fast food industry has been Ground Zero for the movement to raise minimum wages. Four years ago, the Fight for $15 campaign was started on behalf of fast food workers. But it has since expanded to advocate for low-wage workers across industries.

Labor advocates' responses to the news have been scathing.

"Puzder will be there for his low-wage-industry CEO buddies, who are now salivating over the prospect of rolling back the Obama administration's efforts to raise pay for low-wage workers, improve workplace safety, and increase corporate accountability for wage theft and other violations," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

The response from two of Puzder's own employees involved with the Fight for $15 was even more scathing.

"Putting one of the worst fast food CEOs in charge of national labor policy sends a signal to workers that the Trump years are going to be about low pay, wage theft, sexual harassment and racial discrimination. Instead of taking on the rigged economy, it seems like Trump wants to rig it up even more," said Carl's Jr. cook Rogelio Hernandez and Hardee's cashier Lacretia Jones.

Trump's Labor Secretary nominee has been a vocal critic of a $15 minimum wage But he told the Los Angeles Times that he doesn't oppose raising the $7.25 federal minimum wage somewhat and indexing it to inflation.

But going as high as $10.10 an hour -- which Democrats in Congress have proposed -- is too high in his book. In a 2014 op-ed, Puzder noted that the working poor are struggling but asserted that increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would not improve their situation. Using the fast food business as an example, Puzder argued that jobs would be cut and franchise owners would rely more on technology to process orders.

Related: 4 states just voted to hike their minimum wage

He has also opposed the Obama administration's efforts to make more workers eligible for overtime pay.

How Puzder -- if confirmed -- might directly affect the Fight for $15 campaign isn't immediately clear. But both Owens and Jonathan Schleifer, executive director of The Fairness Project, think it will "intensify the resolve" of workers with the campaign across cities and states.

Their success isn't just measured in the number of places that have approved a $15 minimum wage, but extends to cities and states that have opted to raise their minimum wage past $10, $11 or $12 and indexing it to inflation thereafter. A number of those successes have come through ballot initiatives, which The Fairness Project and other low-wage-worker advocates have pushed when a locale's lawmakers have rejected a higher minimum.

Should Puzder be confirmed, "it redoubles our enthusiasm for using ballot initiatives," Schleifer said.

Just this past Election Day, voters in four states -- Arizona, Colorado, Maine and Washington -- approved ballot measures that will raise their state minimum wage by between 43% and 60% over the next few years.

Typically, minimum wage measures do well on ballots. Since 2000, 15 states have had a higher minimum wage on the ballot and all of them passed, according to the nonpartisan Initiative and Referendum Institute.

"The Fight for $15 won't back down for one minute in our demands for $15 an hour and union rights for all workers," the two Puzder employees said. "If Trump is going to be a President for the fast food corporations instead of for the fast food workers he is going to be on the wrong side of history." </s> Christine Owens is the executive director at the National Employment Law Project. The views expressed here are her own.

(CNN) Apparently, lightning does strike twice: President-elect Donald Trump once again has named someone to his Cabinet who stands in almost comic opposition to the work they would be tasked with leading -- and to the promises Mr. Trump made to the American people.

This time, Trump has tapped fast-food magnate and conservative commentator Andrew Puzder to head the Department of Labor, the federal agency responsible for ensuring workplace safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits and other core rights

It's hard to think of anyone less suited for the job of lifting up forgotten workers than Puzder, a billionaire CEO who vocally opposes any meaningful increase in the minimum wage, who talks glibly about replacing workers with machines, and who consistently attacks rules that protect both workers and law-abiding employers.

President-elect Trump campaigned as the champion of workers, but giving the fox the keys to the hen house -- as the expected Puzder nomination does -- is hardly the way uphold the Labor Department's stated mission "to foster, promote, and develop the welfare of the wage earners of the United States, to improve their working conditions, and to advance their opportunities for profitable employment."

The contradiction is extreme: Opposition to workers' rights is bread and butter for Puzder. In his new role, Puzder would lead a team tasked with ensuring that employers adhere to basic labor standards. Meanwhile, Puzder's company, CKE Restaurants, parent company of the fast-food chains Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, among others, has been the target of class-action lawsuits alleging failure to fairly compensate managers for overtime.

Both in his work for CKE and in his public commentary, Puzder consistently shows that he considers government protections for working people to be nothing more than an intrusive nuisance. He has been outspoken in his opposition to the Obama administration's updated overtime rules, for example, which would help as many as 12.5 million workers making less than $47,500 annually.

Puzder is quick to blame the government for any problem facing workers, including job loss due to automation—despite the fact that, by his own admission, he and other restaurant industry leaders are the very people choosing to invest in automation . As he told Business Insider earlier this year in describing the allure of automation, "[Machines are] always polite, they always upsell, they never take a vacation, they never show up late, there's never a slip-and-fall, or an age, sex or race discrimination case."

The statement hints at another issue with his nomination: his company's troubling record of sexist advertising.

But to Puzder, marketing ethics is apparently secondary to profit: "If you don't complain, I go to the head of marketing and say, 'What's wrong with our ads?'... Those complaints aren't necessarily bad for us. What you look at is, you look at sales. And, our sales go up."

Such comments are concerning when you consider that the Labor Department is charged with enforcing discrimination laws for federal contractors, as well as the fact that the labor secretary oversees the Women's Bureau, which was established to represent the needs of working women in the creation and implementation of public policy.

The record isn't complete, of course, and it's up to the Senate to do its job in examining it closely before voting to confirm Mr. Puzder. But the evidence so far indicates that neither working women nor any of America's workers will be his priority as labor secretary. Rather than upholding the Labor Department's crucial responsibility to protect workers, Puzder's comments and conduct suggest he will be focused, first and foremost, on Americans whose interests match his own. </s> President-elect Donald Trump has picked Andrew Puzder, the head of the Carl's Jr. and Hardee's fast food restaurants, as his nominee for Labor secretary, a source familiar with the decision tells CNN.

Puzder, 66, is a vocal critic of government regulation and opposes a $15 minimum wage, broader overtime pay and the Affordable Care Act.

The Labor Department oversees America's job market, regulates the workplace, and produces statistics like the unemployment rate that underpin economic policy.

Puzder has been the CEO of CKE Restaurants since 2000. He's credited with turning around the Hardee's brand, but his company has been accused of labor violations and fielded complaints about sexist commercials.

His appointment, which would require Senate confirmation, comes at a time when restaurants and other low-wage industries are feeling pressure to increase pay. Puzder would likely resist those pressures as Labor secretary.

The fast food industry in particular has been the target of nationwide protests pushing for a $15 minimum wage, up from the current $7.25.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed in March, Puzder said a $15 minimum wage, mandatory paid sick leave laws and the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, raise costs for employers and force them to rely more on automated technology.

"While the technology is becoming much cheaper, government mandates have been making labor much more expensive," he wrote.

Puzder told the Los Angeles Times in March that he's not opposed to raising the federal minimum wage above $7.25 or pegging it to inflation, though he said a jump to $15 an hour will cost workers their jobs.

Puzder has also been one of the harshest critics of an Obama administration rule that would require workers who make less than $47,500 and work 40 hours per week be paid overtime. The rule was put on hold by a federal judge in November.

"The real world is far different than the Labor Department's Excel spreadsheet," Puzder wrote in a Forbes guest column in May. "This new rule will simply add to the extensive regulatory maze the Obama Administration has imposed on employers, forcing many to offset increased labor expense by cutting costs elsewhere."

Related: Millions may now lose eligibility for overtime after ruling

In 2004, CKE agreed to pay $9 million to settle three class-action lawsuits involving overtime pay. Puzder told the Orange County Register in 2014 that CKE had spent $20 million on overtime lawsuits in California over the previous eight years, and that the company had reclassified managers as hourly workers as a result.

Under Puzder, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. have come under fire for notoriously lewd commercials targeting young men.

A racy ad featuring a bikini-clad Paris Hilton washing a car while eating a Carl's Jr. burger debuted in 2005. Since then, the brand has doubled down on using supermodels to sell hamburgers. A 2015 Super Bowl commercial featuring a seemingly nude Charlotte McKinney was widely panned.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with a beautiful woman in a bikini, eating a burger and washing a Bentley or a pickup truck or being in a hot tub," Puzder told CNNMoney in 2015. "I think there's probably nothing more American."

If confirmed by the Senate, Puzder will take over for Tom Perez, who was nominated by President Obama in 2013.

Perez issued a rule that extended minimum wage and overtime protections to home health care workers, and he pushed for a rule requiring lawyers to disclose the work they do for employers on union negotiations. That rule has also been blocked by a federal judge.

The Labor Department offers job training programs to workers who lose their jobs because of global trade. It can also fine companies for breaking labor laws, such as the minimum wage.

The Labor Department is one of the economy's principal record-keepers through its oversight of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

During his presidential campaign, Trump sought to discredit BLS numbers. He has claimed, falsely, that the published unemployment rate is a "joke" and a "hoax."

In a speech after he won the New Hampshire primary in February, Trump speculated that the unemployment rate was "probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42%." The unemployment rate was 4.9% at the time and has since fallen to 4.6%.

The BLS also publishes the monthly jobs report and an an array of data on wages, jobs and industries.

--CNN's Sara Murray and CNNMoney's Danielle Wiener-Bronner and Patrick Gillespie contributed to this report.
Workers at two British McDonald's restaurants overwhelmingly vote to authorize a strike over working conditions and the use of zero-hour contracts, which would be the first such labor action against the fast-food chain in the U.K.