IWW Pizza Hut Workers Call Out for Solidarity – 4th of February 2012

On the 4th of February Pizza Hut Workers will be holding a protest outside our store in Sheffield in continuation of an ongoing dispute over working conditions, and we are requesting solidarity pickets at Pizza Hut stores, managered or franchised.  

In April of last year Pizza Hut workers placed a collective grievance about the following issues: 

The standard practice in the UK is for workers to be paid a rate of time and a half for working unsociable days, such as Boxing day, or New Year’s eve. However, Pizza Hut has reversed this in all cases now across all its stores, and now even if a worker was to be in on Christmas day they would still be paid the standard wage. We demand that Pizza Hut pay all workers time and a half for working Bank Holiday days.

Delivery Drivers Commission 

Delivery staff, using their own cars, are paid a commission rate of 60p per delivery. The rate has remained static for several years. This is despite a changing delivery radius and the rising price of petrol. A driver can deliver a pizza that could be part of a 6 mile round trip, giving them a rate of 10p per mile. A worker on minimum wage is expected to pay for the cost of running a car as well as towards the cost of fuelling it while at work. Despite a review and the promise of a new rate, the rate has remained the same.

The Pizza Hut Workers Union also has concerns outside of this dispute, including delivery staffs safety gear, a decreasing pay packet that falls behind inflation and a demand for a real living wage for all Pizza Hut workers. We ask for your support in our on-going dispute.

We would advise that supporters simply do not engage with management other than to inform them that you are holding a solidarity picket in support of Pizza hut workers demanding proper Bank Holiday pay and a fair Delivery Commission.

This is not a strike action so we are not expecting workers to not go to work, but we want to engage with workers as much as possible. Part of the advantage of the action on the 4th of February will be to encourage Pizza Hut workers, and to show them that our union supports them and that it’s OK for them to demand better at work. We would encourage supporters to give Pizza Hut workers a flyer providing information on the current dispute as well as an application form and encourage them to join the union. We can use this as a way to build the membership of the union and develop a confidence for acting at work in a sector that has seen little or no industrial action.

The aim should be to discuss with them in as much depth as possible the details of the dispute and how joining the IWW can help them at work.

If you look at the attached flyer there is a pro-forma letter on the back, supporters should ask the public to send the letter to Pizza Hut registering their support for our demands. We would also ask that supporters get members of the public to sign the petition of support. We would encourage supporters to engage with the Public, and ask them to go elsewhere until the dispute is settled, pointing them in the direction of their nearest alternative pizza establishment.

We thank you for all your support and continue to be amazed by the level of solidarity we have received from Fellow Workers all over the world.