TEN pounds an hour isn’t pie in the sky — that’s the message of food workers’ union BFAWU in its campaign to organise fast food workers and win them decent pay.

“It’s all about trade unions working together, bringing the community in as well — then we can really do things,” the union’s general secretary Ronnie Draper says.

BFAWU has taken the lead in the high-profile campaign to shame food and beverage giants including McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks and Costa Coffee into raising pay.

The campaign is part of a global movement made famous in the United States by the “$15 and a union” call that has forced McDonald’s to bring in its first ever national pay strategy.

Was it the US campaign that inspired the BFAWU to take up the cudgels for fast food workers this side of the Atlantic?

“What the US campaign did is to force an acknowledgement that there is a serious problem in the industry,” Draper tells me.

“Unions had tried to organise in the sector in the past but mostly these efforts fell flat. We decided we were the right union to do it.

“We enlisted like-minded organisations to help promote the campaign — and away we went.”

The £10-an-hour campaign has relied on a broad coalition of support — with the National Shop Stewards Network, Disabled People Against Cuts, Youth Fight for Jobs and Unite Community all playing a key role.

“Working together is the key. Take the Hovis dispute,” Draper points out, referring to the 2013 struggle which saw the union win parity pay for staff on zero-hours contracts.

“It would have been very difficult for us on our own but we got loads of support from other unions. Unions fighting side-by-side is how you break the will of these massive exploitative corporations.”

But isn’t it legendarily difficult to organise fast food workers? The workforces are small, young — since it’s cheaper to pay people who don’t qualify for an adult minimum wage — and employment is insecure, making it hard to get people to insist on their rights.

I mention the claim from McDonald’s in the US that the $15 campaign was run by “outsiders,” and that the workforce itself was not participating.

“Well they might say that but what about the global day of action?” he demands.

On April 15, protests were held across the US, Britain and other countries to promote fair pay for fast food workers.

“Estimates of how many workers in the US were on strike that day range from 60,000 to 90,000. So workers are taking part.

“But remember the aim is not to have people out on strike. It’s to have companies pay a decent wage that allows people to live in dignity.

“What future will our young people have if we can’t overturn this low-pay culture? They won’t be able to afford a decent home, a car or go on holiday. How can you raise a family like that?

“They won’t be able to do any of the things we expect people to be able to do. Unions are about protecting our members but we also have a social conscience.

“We’re building awareness in communities, among the non-unionised, around this demand. I was handing out leaflets outside a McDonald’s recently and there was a guy walking past, smartly dressed, suit and tie.

“He wouldn’t take a leaflet, saying: ‘I don’t work for McDonald’s.’ So I said wait a minute, this isn’t just about McDonald’s and I explained what we’re trying to achieve here.

“After five minutes he didn’t just agree, he wanted phone numbers so he could get involved.”

Draper has attended many of these rallies and demonstrations outside fast food outlets across Britain. In Sheffield last Saturday, a protest in front of McDonald’s was followed by a mass rally and then in the evening a concert.

“It all raises awareness. And we can target one outlet, right, get in there, sign some people up to the union, and it has a ‘pebble in the pool’ effect,” he says.

“If it works in Sheffield it can spread out to Barnsley, Doncaster. You can’t hit every McDonald’s at once. Target a few.

“We’ve got community organisers doing a fantastic job. We don’t need union officials running the campaign in each area. Some will be BFAWU lay members, or they might be from Youth Fight for Jobs.

“I’m a believer in bringing everyone in. Like with this election. If the nationalists, the Greens will push Labour to the left, then good — though I do say ‘if.’

“I say that as a lifelong Labour supporter who’ll be voting for the party. Actually I’ve had meetings with Ed Miliband and he struck me as fairly progressive — it came as a surprise,” he laughs. “But I think we can achieve things with him.”

So has the campaign been a success?

“The big firms haven’t budged on pay — yet,” he says.

“But remember we’re two years behind the US on this campaign and they’re starting to see movement.

“McDonald’s says it’s all franchises, they can’t control pay. But can you seriously claim McDonald’s hasn’t got a major controlling influence on the franchises?

“You walk into any McDonald’s and you’ve got the same menu, the same prices, the same uniforms. Everything revolves around the brand.

“So you need to get these companies worried about damage to the brand. That’s what it was like at Hovis. When people started swamping the phone lines with complaints, saying: ‘We’re not buying your brand,’ then they paid attention.

“It’s not about not using our traditional levers like strike action, but it is about broadening the way we do things.

You can get a community behind you because they start to worry about their children working at these places.

“And what a difference £10 an hour would make. That would lift five million people out of poverty right away. It would increase the tax rate. It would save a fortune in in-work benefits for people who work but can’t make ends meet.

“Let them earn enough to live. There’d be no need for foodbanks. That’s why we’ve got to keep this movement going.”