Catering workers employed by Rail Gourmet at Paddington station, in West London, struck again on 30-31 January. The workers had previously struck on 10 January, in their fight for fair rostering practises and proper payment of allowances and bonuses.
Rail Gourmet is part of Select Service Partners, a large corporation which is essentially a huge employer of fast food and retail workers across the railway industry. RG has contracts with several mainline TOCs to provide onboard catering services, while SSP provides staff to railway station concessions of huge corporations including Burger King and Starbucks.
Drawing inspiration from fast food workers' struggles in New Zealand, the USA, and here in Britain via the "McStrike" organised by the Bakers, Food, and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), hopefully the Paddington strike can be the start of a wave of organising and action in the industry-within-an-industry represented within which RG and SSP workers are employed.
