20 October 2011
Unite’s Conference and AGM will be held December 1st and 2nd at the Saint Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby, Auckland. Worksites with more than 30 members are automatically entitled to have a delegate attend the conference, delegates from smaller sites who wish to attend should contact their organiser about nominating as an AGM delegate....more.
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19 October 2011
Unite Union is not affiliated to any political party. However we have always supported our members voting for parties based on whether they can be considered “worker friendly” in their policies. Based on their record in office this past three years we encourage a vote against the National-led government and look at alternatives which serve the majority and not the rich. Let’s look at what Key’s National-led government has done to ordinary working people and the poor:....more.
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18 October 2011
After a two long years a union settlement was finally reached with SkyCity casino which should be around $100,000. This money will be shared out amongst any workers who have worked at the SkyCity convention centre after September 2009. Unite Director Mike Treen took a group case up after he discovered convention staff were wrongly designated as “casuals” receiving no extra payment for overtime hours ....more.
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18 October 2011
A small but effective union, which took inspiration from the Unite project in New Zealand, has made some gains for young previously unorganised retail and service employees in Melbourne.In the first part of the year Unite (Melbourne) uncovered pay scams and super-exploitation of international students by the 7-11 retail company. ....more.
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18 October 2011
As well as voting in this year’s election the public will also be asked in a referendum whether they want to change the electoral system. Together we have to ensure that our friends, whanau, and workmates reject the anti-worker agenda and retain the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) voting system. MMP is a fairer system, but how? Up until 1993 New Zealand had a First-Past-the-Post (FPP) system. ....more.
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18 October 2011
Election day is November 26th
You will have three votes:
1. The party you want to support (see election article)
2. The local candidate you want to support
3. A vote on whether to retain MMP....more.
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18 October 2011
This charter is endorsed by Unite and contains the recognition rights we expect employers to observe. The best way to guarantee the rights below is to have them written in to your collective agreement.As a workplace delegate you have the right to:
• Recognition by your employer that you are the workers’ elected representative.....more.
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18 October 2011
Bargaining updates for Mcdonalds, Restaurant Brands (KFC, Pizza Hutt and Starbucks, DHBs, No1 Shoes and Hoyts Cinemas
....more.
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18 October 2011
Unite’s support staff is changing with Natasha Henry having left her various duties including office management, reception, and administrative support for organisers. Tash came to us originally as a member in a call centre. In September she left for a new role at Tahiti Tourism New Zealand. We wish her all the best and can confirm that Unite’s vice-president Shanna Olsen-Reeder, delegate and strike-leader at JBHI-FI in Wellington, has moved to Auckland to take up a similar position. Tom Buckley is taking a well-deserved break ...more.
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20 April 2011
Heritage Hotel Workers in Christchurch were offered an improved redundancy deal when told their fate today.Last week the 80 workers involved were informed they would receive nothing more than 2 weeks’ notice and offered no guarantee of reemployment at the hotel in Christchurch or at the dozen other Heritage sites across the country. Unite union members were outraged at the package and Christchurch Organiser Matt Jones demanded the company rethink the offer. He described the original offer as "well below par with the other earthquake affected hotels throughout the city” and criticized “the lack of care and the awful presentation which has led to frustration and anger among our members"...more.
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20 March 2011
Union members at First Security (a division of ISS International) went on strike at 5pm Saturday 18th March in support of 15 members from the company’s patrols division who were locked out by the company last night after a two-hour strike for decent pay. An on the spot deal was brokered and the result is a much improved settlement which has been approved by members...more.
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26 March 2011
1st April UPDATE: Voting has now closed. The Executive proposal was endorsed by 70.8% of those who cast a vote. The proposed fee changes will be implemented during April.
The Unite Executive is recommending a new fee structure from 1st April 2011. The 2010 AGM asked the Executive to come up with a proposal to go to a membership vote. Current financial members should have received a letter, email or text with details of the proposal and information on how to vote. If you are a currently paying union fees then you can vote here
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24 March 2011
Unite members are speaking out about the constant problems being forced on them in regard to rosters and hours of work in Restaurant Brands Limiteds KFC and Pizza Hut outlets.
Read more about:
2 HOUR SHIFTS
C.P.H. TARGETS AND UNPAID WORK
ROSTER CHANGES
GETTING ADDITIONAL HOURS
REST & MEAL BREAKS
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20 March 2011
The bargaining team has met with McDonalds in two sessions of negotiations of a new Collective Employment Agreement (CEA) on 1st /2nd and 17th of March. The Unite bargaining team included seven delegates from McDonalds restaurants from Dunedin to Auckland. Unite raised just over 30 claims with the McDonalds bargaining team mainly around staff wages including $15 an hour rate, allowances, guaranteed hours for staff/recognition of full and part time positions and union rights....more
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20 March 2011
All RBL waged union members will be getting a 3% increase from 1st April 2011. This rise was negotiated by Unite when the collective was settled last year. The rise was negotiated to be 3% or the increase in the minimum wage - which ever was higher. The increase in the minimum wage will only be 2% (from $12.75 to $13.00) but the base rate for RBL workers will be $13.13 per hour....more
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20 March 2011
99% of cinema members who took part in the the vote supported negotiating a Multi-Employer Collective Agreement (MECA) supported it. Although all of our Christchurch members were unable to hold meetings (their workplaces remain closed after the earthquake), the resounding yes vote (86 of 87 total votes) means that negotiations can begin shortly.... more
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19 March 2011
Dunedin Pizza Hut workers have a new employer - but very successfully fought reductions in their pay and conditions.
Workers were particularly angry that they were to be subject to the new 90 day “fire at will” clause - especially when many have years of service with Pizza Hut.
The workers stood firm, not signing any new agreements until:
- the 90 day clause was removed
- everyone was guaranteed the same pay and conditions
- they were guaranteed the pay increase due to all RBL workers on 1st April
- the contract drivers received a better deal....more.
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16 March 2011
After a bitter dispute over the past three months involving both strikes and lockouts the unions have reached an agreement with SkyCity for a new and improved Collective Agreement. The agreement includes a number of advances over the initial offer from the company. These include:
- An increase in redundancy compensation from 12 to 18 weeks
- Including significant roster changes as grounds for redundancy
- A $150 annual unpleasant duties allowance for cleaning staff
- Freezing of car park and staff cafeteria prices for the duration of the agreement
- A $150 incentive payment for union members only for ratifying the contract..more.
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7 March 2011
New Zealand’s largest casino has begun locking out its workforce in an attempt by the company to force unionised employees to accept a new agreement.Dozens of Unite Union and Service and Food Workers Union members have already been told not to return to work unless they leave the union and accept a below cost of living wage offer. Over a thousand union members are affected by the lockout threat, after negotiations for a new collective agreement broke down and industrial action began on New Year’s Eve. The major claims of the union were for a minimum wage of $15 hr for all workers, a cost of living wage increase and for security of hours for part time staff. SkyCity Entertainment Group, which owns the casino projects a massive net profit of $130 million for this year...more.
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25 Feb 2011
The Christchurch Earthquake has hit Unite members very hard. Fortunately it appears no members were hurt in the quake but the future in the next few weeks and months is very uncertain for many. After the September earthquake Unite reacted quickly to make sure workers were treated fairly. This time we have been contacting employers and making sure they are communicating with their workers.
Read employers responses to Unite's questions about pay and worksites here
For wage subsidy information go here and to apply by phone call 0800 779997.
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28 Feb 2011
On the 21st February, Unite members at the Salmat call centre went on strike for two hours and held a very lively, upbeat picket outside the company’s office on Great South Road, Penrose. In a very spirited picket 40 members took part with 12 new members joining on the day. After three years of no pay increases the workers rejected the company offer of an extra days leave after one year service and two days after two years service. They decided to strike....more.
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11 Feb 2011
Unite Union National Director Mike Treen described as outrageous the decision by Burger King to give a final written warning today to a young worker who posted “Real jobs don’t underpay and overwork people like BK does” on a private Facebook page. “This is a primitive attempt at thought control” said Mike Treen. “Young workers must be able to have private chats and conversations via Facebook without the heavy boots of a multinational fast-food giant stomping on them. A private facebook chat for this generation is no different to a pub conversation to mine. We wouldn’t expect to be disciplined for a comment reported back to a company from a private pub conversation and a private facebook chat should be treated no differently....more.
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11 Feb 2011
Unite will be meeting with McDonald’s in late February to commence negotiations of a new collective employment agreement to cover the terms and conditions of union members employed in McDonald’s restaurants across Aotearoa. Organisers from Unite will have been visiting restaurants and asking union members what they want to see change. Organiser’s will not be able to reach all restaurants before negotiations commence so we are asking members that can’t get to a claims meeting to submit their ideas to us....more.
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3 Feb 2011
Skycity casino unions are claiming victory over the company in their strike over their collective agreement and allegations that the company discriminates against Chinese staff by denying them leave during an extended Chinese new year. Unite Union National Director Mike Treen said their aim was to close as much of the casino as possible and that was achieved with the company only able to open a tiny fraction of the gaming tables by using inexperienced managers....more.
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20 Jan 2011
Unite Union national Director Mike Treen is to challenge a Trespass order taken against him and Joe Carolan another Unite official by SkyCity last week by trying to enter the casino at 2pm on Friday. “The company is acting illegally by trying to use a trespass order to bar my access from most the Casino property and the members I represent,” said Mr Treen. “They are well aware that their powers to Trespass cannot reduce a union officials access rights contained in the Employment Relations Act. If they consider my access to be unreasonable they have the right to take me to court and have me penalized. However, by trying to use the Trespass Act they are seeking to avoid their responsibility to prove I have done anything wrong in exercising my access rights under law.....more.
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30 Dec 2010SkyCity Casino in Auckland will be the scene of union organised action on January 1 starting immediately after the traditional fireworks display. Unite and the Service and Food Workers Union are organizing a series of joint stop work meetings starting at 12.30am on New Year’s day. “This stop work meeting will the world’s first industrial action in 2011”, said Unite National Director and lead union negotiator Mike Treen. We are holding the meetings on New Year’s day because by then the Collective Agreement will have expired .... more
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15th Dec 2010
Over 150 Unite delegates from across New Zealand were gathered in Auckland in the last week of November for the first ever Unite National Conference. Previously Unite AGMs and delegate training sessions have taken place in smaller one day meetings in different cities. This year the Unite Executive committed to have a conference with worksite representatives from across New Zealand together in one place....more.
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13th Dec 2010
SkyCity employees have started negotiations over a new Collective Agreement. A central claim is for a $15 an hour minimum wage with proportionate increases for all staff. To meet this demand wage rates would need to increase by 6-7%. We want to ensure no worker employed by SkyCity is subject to the 90-day fire at will law and they retain the right to nominate a lieu day with two-weeks’ notice. Other claims include increasing the security of hours for part time staff, protections for casual staff, coverage of salaried staff and increased redundancy compensation.....more.
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12th Dec 2010 The evils of contracting government services have been exposed at Auckland Airport where staff who have performed duties for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries for many years have been thrown out of their jobs. 14 long serving staff have been thrown on the scrapheap just three weeks before Xmas because MAF has engaged a new contractor, foreign multinational company ADECCO, which is refusing to take on these long serving staff......more.
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12th Dec 2010
If you work on any public holiday, you should be paid at least time and a half for the time you actually work. If you normally work on that day of the week then you should also get another day off in lieu. You are entitled to the greater of:
- relevant daily pay less any penal rates plus half that amount again (time-and-a-half)
- or relevant daily pay including any penal rates...more.
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5th Dec 2010
Eleven Unite members took the opportunity to become involved in the running of their union by being elected to the Unite Executive, the group that makes key decisions about the union in between the AGMs. With only sixteen members in total, the eleven new faces represent a huge and welcome injection of talent and enthusiasm into the executive and the union’s leadership...more.
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10th Dec 2010
The government have passed a range of new anti-worker employment laws under urgency while the country’s attention was focused on the tragedy at Pike Creek. Most of these law changes take effect from April 1 next year. The 90 day “fire-at-will” law allows all employers to sack workers in the first 90 days of their employment without having to give any reason. .more.
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10th Dec 2010
Union members who stood strong through 6 months of negotiations at the residential care facility St John of God in Wellington have recently had their collective settled with a number of strong improvements. The almost fully unionised site won a 2% wage increase, additional caregiver steps up to $17.51, a minimum wage for all laundry and housekeeping staff of $15 and a new non-taxable shoe allowance of $100 per year.more.
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8th Dec 2010
Negotiations are quickly approaching for two of the largest fast food industry staff contracts. Unite will be negotiating over wages and conditions with McDonald’s and Burger King from March 2011. Delegates from both of these companies attending Unite’s inaugural conference in Auckland recently raised discussed what they would like to see change at work and in their contracts. Here are some of their suggestions:more.
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18th Oct 2010
 The recent Paul Henry case has ignited a huge debate in New Zealand about race and what a real Kiwi is in the 21st Century. Unite on Campus hosts speakers from the many different communities that make up modern Aotearoa, asking the question: After Paul Henry, how do we fight racism in New Zealand?....more.
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30th Sept 2010
JB Hi-Fi workers combined a protest over low wages with opposition to the GST rise. Unite Campaigns Organiser Joe Carolan said that while "taxes that hit low paid workers hardest are going up, for the last three years JB Hi-Fi workers have had no pay increases whatsoever. We need a Living Wage, not new taxes on the working poor. That's why we say $15ph, not 15% GST. We say abolish GST, and replace it with a ‘Robin Hood tax’ on big financial transactions like the ones JB Hi-Fi's management make every day"...more.
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4th Sept 2010
During September Unite Union gathered to protest at BurgerFuel Mission Bay against the termination of the local franchisee's employee, Joanne Bartlett, on the 89th day of her 90 day trial period. Nationwide protests organised by the newly formed Solidarity.org.nz network were due to take place but an agreement was reached with Burger Fuel management.....more.
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30th Sept 2010
Canterbury was rocked by a 7.1 Earthquake on Saturday 4th September. Buildings were destroyed, businesses closed and many workers were forced to work under duress or told to use annual leave to cover lost earnings. During the initial weekend local organiser Matt Jones helped assist a closure of a restaurant where the staff were clearly stressed and wanted to be at home with loved ones....more.
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10th Sept 2010
First Security has been accused of putting profit before workers welfare in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake. Unite National Security Coordinator Barry Sutherland has been refused the right to speak to members of First Security Guard Services Limited in the Christchurch based National Communications Centre. “The General Manager arrived in Christchurch 5 days after the devastating ordeal occurred, gave his John Key wave and left. Staff from First Security are feeling undervalued and used by their bosses,” stated Mr Sutherland....more.
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