Union members at McDonald’s have accepted a proposed new collective agreement that will come into effect from March2009 until March 2011.

Union members voted narrowly to accept the agreement after three months of strikes from Whangarei to Wellington that saw 100 strikers from Auckland and Hamilton march on the national conference of franchisees at the Hyatt Hotel in November demanding fair pay and secure hours.

Bonus payment
Most McDonald’s employees will receive or will have received a one-off bonus payment as part of the settlement of between $20 and $100 depending on how many hours you worked on average during the month of November. If you didn’t receive this payment please contact us.

New pay rates (From March ‘09)
Crew with 12 months of service and who have completed their Crew Certificate of Operations workbook will receive minimum wage + 0.50c. Crew trainers +0.75c. Shift Supervisor and McCafe Team Leader position will now get $15.00 an hour and go up with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in 2010. Certified Shift Supervisor will now get
$16.00 an hour and also go up with the (CPI) in 2010.

Shift security
There is a new clause to give employees shift security- where additional hours become available in a store existing crew will get first consideration to take up the additional hours. If hours have to be reduced then as much as possible the reduction should be shared by all staff.

Pay slips
McDonald’s will ensure that all crew have reasonable and timely access to printed pay slips.

The struggle continues...
All union members who stood strong through the strikes and protests should be proud of what they have accomplished and all those who took strike action should know that we would not have won these rises without our efforts and sacrifices. The next stage of the campaign is harder. For crew, crew trainers and maintenance the pay rates are still too low but are linked to the minimum wage. If the minimum wage goes up in March then so will our wages. That’s why we will be campaigning and lobbying the Government to raise the minimum wage this year by $1 an hour. Cabinet Ministers got a $10,000 pay rise in 2008, so they will be absolute hypocrites if they refuse to move the minimum wage by just $1, and help improve the lives of thousands of workers who are paid at minimum wage or just above it. McDonald’s workers deserve a brighter future as well!

We need you to help the campaign to lift the min. wage

Contact: Tom Buckley, the campaign organiser.
029-445-5703
tom@unite.org.nz
0800 2UNITE