FAST-FOOD workers are calling on their bosses to protect black, Asian and minority ethnic workers instead of just “paying lip service” to the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

A petition today challenged the chief executives of McDonald’s (Paul Pomroy), Burger King (Alasdair Murdoch), Taco Bell (Jorge Torres) and KFC (Paula MacKenzie) to give them a living wage and better job security.

The new campaign by the Bakers and Allied Food Workers Union’s McStrike BAME committee said that bosses also must take steps to ensure BAME workers are protected against individual and systemic racial abuse.

Since the BLM movement kicked off earlier this month, companies, including those from fast-food industries, have posted their support on social media.

But the petition says it is not enough to pay lip service to the BLM movement, with campaigners warning that racism is systemic, running through the global fast-food corporations which make millions in profit by paying BAME staff poverty wages. 

They pointed out that BAME workers were disproportionately represented in the fast-food workforce and staff in the industry say they accept job offers quickly as they need security, only to find themselves in low-paid employment and told they are replaceable. 

Melissa Evans, a fast-food worker from London, said: “If fast-food corporations believed in justice, they would pay us our £15 per hour and recognise our union. 

“But all they do is use our struggle for racial justice to gain free advertising and market themselves to our communities. All to make money out of our oppression while we work hard and still live in poverty.”

Ms Evans said her son was her motivation for taking action.

“He could be working in fast food or hospitality in three years time and I don’t want to send him into a toxic environment,” she said.

“He should be able to be safe and comfortable and earn a wage that he can live on.”

Bakers’ union president Ian Hodson said: “Our members are providing a crucially important contribution to the BLM movement, grounded in workers’ material and social lived experience. 

“We must stand with these workers as they speak out, and hold global fast-food corporations accountable for the harm they cause to our communities.”

The petition is calling for workers to have the right to refuse service to rude customers, with a ban for racially abusive customers and enforcement of zero-tolerance policies by managers, including training for all managers in conflict management and how to recognise racism in the workplace.

Workers are also demanding a £15 per hour wage, stable hours and a union to lift them out of in-work poverty and give them a platform to have their voices heard. 

The petition is also calling for the immediate release of the statistics of BAME workers in different roles across the businesses, including pay discrepancies. 

It concludes: “Police killing black people is violence. Big rich fast-food companies forcing poverty pay on us is violence too. Black Lives Matter. And black quality of life matters.

“That’s why we need to stand together to end racial and economic injustice. We need our entire communities, everyone who agrees with us, to show us solidarity.”

The campaign group will deliver a full copy of the petition to each of the CEOs. 

You can sign the BFAWU’s petition here: megaphone.org.uk/petitions/email-fast-food-ceos-to-say-listen-to-your-workers-black-lives-matter