dont panic!
UNITE UNION NEWSLETTER Fast Food/hospitality workers October/November 2016.
New contracts what do you want to see improved? Update Holiday pay problems. Why you should get involved in your union
organise!
It's time to talk... Soon the Union fast food contracts will be expiring, This can be your opportunity to improve conditions at work. Being a member of Unite has many individual benefits. All our members are covered by funeral insurance, get the member benefit voucher book, and get protection from employment disputes at work. But the Union is much more than an individual service. The most important thing about a Union is our collective strength. Its by working together that we are not just able to protect individuals but improve conditions for everyone. One of the most important ways we do this is by negotiating a collective agreement. On your own, you are not in a very good position to negotiate a contract. McDonald's, KFC and Burger King are all massive multinational companies, and as an individual kitchen or FOH worker you have very limited power to negotiate a better deal.
In the first half of next year the current contracts at Wendy's. McDonald's, Restaurant Brands and Burger King will be expiring. When they run out, we will begin negotiating a new deal. Through this process members are essential. Our organisers will be organising meetings and visits in different stores and areas to get feedback as to what claims we make with the companies. A claim can be anything from a cooler uniform to better pay. The negotiations will then be led by a team of workers from each company, and once they think they have a deal that is worth while, it is voted on by Unite members.
What we can get out of these negotiations will be up to you. The more people we have in the union and engaging in these processes the better placed we are to make the best claims and stronger we are to make But when we come together to negotiate a contract with them happen. thousands of other fast food workers across the country, we are in a lot stronger a position to get a fair Make sure that not only do you participate, but you deal. encourage all your coworkers to sign up too!
UNITE CAMPAIGNS HAVE WON:
An end to Zero Hour Contracts No youth wages $15 Minimum wage (up from less than $8) 15 minute breaks
STRONG
Union makes a
STRONG CONTRACT
Join Today! Make sure your store is strong!
What would you like to see improved in the contract? Pay ? Hours? Training? Uniform? Something else?
DID YOU GET YOUR FULL HOLIDAY LEAVE? EMPLOYERS ACROSS NZ
HAVE LEFT WORKERS SHORT This year you may have noticed the public scandal involving companies miscalculating annual leave entitlements. Unite is still waiting for reports from most companies on how much they owe workers for years of miscalculated annual leave payments. Restaurant Brands, Burger King and McDonald's agreed to appoint auditors to check their systems when pressed by Unite to do so. They had been resisting our requests until the the issue became a public scandal. Wendy's have been audited by the Labour Inspector who has found they calculated leave incorrectly and is asking them to change their behavior and pay back pay. This is the second finding against Wendy's. They had previously been found to be denying staff alternative holidays for working on a public holiday and that issue is going to court because the company won't accept the ruling of the labour inspector. MBIE, the government ministry responsible for enforcing the law on holidays, has found 35 organisations and companies that have had to pay $35 million in back pay an average of $1500 for each staff member in compensation. The fundamental error that seems to have been committed by nearly all employers and payroll providers is to miscalculate leave for workers who do variable hours each week. Annual leave when it is taken should be calculated as a weekly payment and it should be the higher of the workers "average" weekly pay or their "ordinary" weekly pay. Your ordinary pay is what you are earning at the time you take leave. If you have increased your weekly hours during a year then the weekly pay should be at the higher weekly hours you are currently working. There is a good chance that a lot of fast food workers will be in this situation. In fact, almost any worker on variable hours could be owed money. Unite will continue to look into this issue!
Union Hero
it could be you?
In each of our sites Unite looks for delegates. A delegate is a representative of the union in their store. Delegates are officials of the union have a legal right to represent their coworkers if problems come up. Our organisers are there not just to help members, but to work with delegates to make sure that we can fix things in stores ourselves. Delegates are also the people who run the Union. Delegates elect the Union leadership each year at the annual conference and are the people who make up the bargaining teams when we negotiate contracts. Amy Forrest is one of the new delegates at KFC Johnsonville. Amy became a delegate because she really wanted to be the kind of person in her workplace that stood up for her coworkers. "It doesn't need to be really big things, it really helps change the workplace by just having someone that staff know they can go to for advice." "I love it, and its a great feeling when you can help someone out." We are always looking for more people to get involved in Unite. If you think you can be a union hero in your site talk to your organiser. Details for this years Conference in Auckland in December will be released soon.
ACTIVITY REPORTS STAND UP CONFERENCE
SECURE HOURS WINS
September saw the biannual Stand Up conference. Unite continues to make progress on getting security of Stand Up is the cross union committee for young hours for all our members. unionists in New Zealand/Aotearoa. Each union sent youth representatives to talk about building union At Restaurant Brands, the company and the union have activism amongst young people. Unite was represented recently agreed to amend the contract. The changes will by Moniqua Reid from Starbucks, Shirley Wang from mean that all stores will move towards a set roster, Skycity and Nicole Campbell the Unite Organiser in where staff are given guaranteed shifts. Christchurch. At McDonald's we recently discovered some of our Moniqua told Unite "Being new to the Union movement members had had their secure hours number changed the Stand Up conference was an eye opening without their knowledge. Unite was able to fix this error, experience. I heard amazing activists and took part in and get these members paid back pay for hours they my first protest against unaffordable housing. A big should have received. thanks to Unite for giving delegates the chance to get involved!"
JOIN UNITE http://www.unite.org.nz/online_membership_application
ABOUT US Unite Union is the union for fast food, hospitality and call center workers (and some others too!) We are a membership organisation that is responsible to and led by our members. Together, we organise to improve pay, conditions and respect in the hospitality industry for all workers. Unite Members recieve:
INDIVIDUAL ADVOCACY
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
If you have an issue at work, union members can get support to lodge complaints, or get representation if needed.
By negotiating a collective agreement, we can get better pay, terms and conditions than we can achieve by ourselves.
UNION ONLY BENEFITS Union members also receive member only benefit packs, such as vouchers, free medical clinics, discounts and life insurance.
YOUR LOCAL ORGANISER Auckland North/Central Auckland West/Northland Auckland East/South Central Nth Island Otago/Southland Hamilton Wellington Bay Of Plenty Canterbury
Ben 021 560 127, ben@unite.org.nz Gary 029 445 5979, gary@unite.org.nz Renee 021 447 067, renee@unite.org.nz Bonita 029 445 4959, bonita@unite.org.nz Olive 022 353 0408, olive@unite.org.nz Angelyse 022 077 0881, angelyse@unite.org.nz Jasmine 022 043 0669, jasmine@unite.org.nz Aneta 027 5307560, aneta@unite.org.nz Nicole 021 082 64165, nicole@unite.org.nz