Beyond Mobilisation at McDonald’s: Towards Networked Organising

Abstract

This article uses McAlevey’s mobilising/organising dichotomy to analyse the recent McDonald’s mobilisation in the United Kingdom. It argues that this movement has had some impressive successes but building on these requires greater organising activities. However, conventional union organising techniques are unlikely to be successful in hospitality. Instead, the approach of another low-wage worker movement OUR Walmart demonstrates how social media can be used not only to benefit mobilising activities but to enable organising beyond the workplace.

Keywords: Fight for $15, MacDonald’s, mobilisation, organising, OUR Walmart, protest, social media, union renewal