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The Food Programme

Fast Food Workers

The Food Programme

BBC

Arts, Food

4.4976 Ratings

🗓️ 20 July 2015

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

With a new "living wage" announced Sheila Dillon explores the world of fast food workers. In the U.S. a campaign over low pay, started in 2012, has now gone global. Saying they could no longer live on the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 the workers called for a salary based on $15.00 an hour.

The protests spread to more than 200 cities and inspired workers in other parts of the world to stand up for better pay. The campaign received the backing of President Barack Obama and cities including Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles have now increased the minimum wage.

Sheila hears from one fast food work in New York's Bronx, Flavia Cabrell. She holds down two jobs including one at a McDonalds' restaurant and low pay led her to take action and join the protests. She explains why she's motivated by wanting to change the future for her children.

Meanwhile low pay was one of the main targets in Chancellor George Osborne's summer budget. Changes to tax credits and the introduction of a "national living wage" was the outcome. But some workers say the changes will still mean they live a precarious financial existence with zero hours contracts still a dominant model in the food industry and the living wage only applicable to over 25's.

Producer: Dan Saladino.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hello I'm Sheila Dylan and welcome to this BBC download of the Food Program.

0:06.0

For information on the BBC's terms and conditions of use, visit

0:09.6

www.

0:10.9

BBC.co. UK slash Radio 4. And now enjoy the podcast.

0:17.0

Hey man I have a question. Do you ever get tips here?

0:22.0

Tips? Yeah.

0:23.0

No.

0:24.0

All right.

0:25.0

Two people handing out $100 tips to fast food workers,

0:30.0

captured on YouTube.

0:31.0

It's uncomfortable, it's moving. It's also surprising because so far more

0:37.4

than 5 million people have watched it.

0:40.3

Oh my gosh, thank you so much. But it helps tell a story that against all the odds has been engaging vast

0:47.9

ways of Americans across the political divide. The story of about 4 million people whose unheralded work props up some of the most

0:57.1

profitable food companies on the planet. People who are often paid the lowest possible

1:02.4

wages and who often find themselves on people who are often paid the lowest possible wages

1:03.2

and who often find themselves on the breadline.

1:05.7

One, two, three, four, five-20s right here?

1:07.9

Are you serious?

1:08.8

Yeah.

1:09.8

In this program, we're going to be reporting on one of the biggest grassroots movements America

1:14.0

has seen in years, but one that's also taking off here.

...

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