HAVING been successful in getting the TUC to accept our motions on the abolition of zero-hourss contracts and a £10 per hour minimum wage, this year the Bakers Food & Allied Workers Union motion will be on support for the global fast foods campaign and, like last year, we will be looking for unanimous support from our trade union colleagues.

Motions like this have to be seen not as a publicity stunt and more as a mission statement on the direction our movement will be travelling in the future — a journey that can consolidate many of the major demands and focus our actions to achieve them.

In the past, trade unions failed to attract young people into their ranks and so the age profile of activists has been somewhere north of 40 years old. But I am pleased to say that all unions now have their focus firmly on encouraging young people to take on positions of responsibility.

While young people are the future of the trade union and labour movement, we shouldn’t forget that they are also the most exploited age group within industry across the world and there is no industry that exploits more than the fast-food sector.

Hundreds of thousands of 16 to 18-year-olds are earning between £3.79 and £5.13 per hour, with most being at the lower end. And as if to rub salt in the wounds, the vast majority are on zero-hours contracts.

Young people who are old enough to do things that adults do like joining the armed forces, marrying, driving a car and in some cases voting, but who are treated like some subspecies when it comes to employment rights. This is exploitation that borders on discrimination.

You don’t see so many people of my age working behind the counters of McDonald’s, KFC or Burger King. And it’s got nothing to do with dexterity, looks or experience. It is down to one thing, and one thing only — cost.

At present someone of my age would cost nearly £3 an hour more than a 16-year-old, and so we are priced out of the market.

But watch this space as from October this year the minimum wage should go up by 8p per hour for 16 and 17-year-olds, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some kind of apprenticeship in burger-flipping is dreamt up to suppress wages even further.

It is so important that we all focus on this type of behaviour and publicise what is really happening behind the colourful facades of these companies.

Other unions are also involved in campaigns on the high street against the likes of Sports Direct and many others which insist upon using young people as modern-day slaves while maximising their profits.

In reality, despite the attacks from the government, trade unions remain a powerful force for good.

Indeed, there have been many times over the past five years when I have thought that the trade union movement is the only true opposition to this heinous right-wing government.

If we act collectively as a movement we can become the real drivers of change. With above six million members, we can be the conduit to ridding the high street of future exploitation, not by closing down these worldwide brands, but by demanding a fairer share of the fast-food pie.

Over the months we have seen flashmobs taking over McDonald’s restaurants, demonstrations outside fast-food joints across 32 UK cities and a growing movement ready to challenge these serial exploiters.

The BFAWU is now using an experienced team of organisers dedicated to recruitment within the fast-food sector and, while we recognise that we will not be bringing in masses of revenue, we do recognise that sometimes there is a moral crusade that can bring awareness to an industry so sadly lacking.

Besides Britain we are working very closely with global unions across the world to target specific fast-food companies, particularly those in the US.

Their campaign is more than two years ahead of ours and that can be seen by the progress that’s been made — not just within fast-food companies but across entire states, where union actions have resulted in major rises in the minimum wage across New York and Seattle.

It is an example that we can all follow — standing up for the poorest-paid in our society by the use of collective strength, ready to combat the lies that will be presented as facts and being committed to bringing about change.

McDonald’s, a company that measures its profits in billions, will tell you that it is the franchisee that determines the employment conditions, but that is not so.

The facia, the menu, the overalls and the pricing are all determined by the parent company — and I have no doubt that the salaries are included in that.

So, if you have some spare time, come and join our campaign and help make a difference to the plight of these exploited young people.

We will be holding a Fast Foods: Hungry for Justice campaign meeting at Congress House on September 16 from 10am-6pm, which will have speakers from SEIU, Fight for 15 and Black Lives Matter campaigns as well as prominent Labour MPs and, of course, British fast-food workers.

Ronnie Draper is general secretary of the BFAWU.