Unite Union wants answers from the government as to why hundreds of thousands of workers are still waiting to have the annual leave stolen from them in the past restored. It is three years since Unite first wrote to major employers in the fast food industry telling them that they were miscalculating annual leave for their staff. It is two years since MBIE, the government agency responsible, admitted being in error in the payment of their own staff. Last week we discovered that the firm Xero, who provide accounting software for a third of all New Zealand small businesses as...

Kaylee Tantrum (17) was backpaid just over $1000 for work that was not assigned to her because her rostering documentation was falsified without her knowledge. Kaylee, who works at a McDonald's restaurant in a food court in Wellsford told Unite union organiser Gary Cranston that she was instructed to write her signature on an availability form that was later found to have a minimum hours of work per week written on it, as if she had agreed to this prior to signing it. "I was instructed to sign it before the new number was written there." - "I signed my...

One worker has been backpaid and several others are waiting to be paid for working illegal, unpaid pre-employment work trials and other unpaid work at McDonald's New Zealand's newest restaurant. Workers had to attend compulsory unpaid meetings and work for free cleaning the restaurant in preparation for opening day. Heidi Louise Batt worked two unpaid 4 hour shifts without being told that she wouldn't be paid prior. She wasn't told that she was rejected for the job until she asked to be paid. It was the first job she had applied for in her life. Initially claiming that a manager...

Fast food companies are trying to wriggle out of legal and contractual obligations around basic rights of workers to guaranteed hours and annual leave. Unite Union has started bargaining with McDonald’s and Restaurant Brands over the renewal of their respective collective agreements. McDonald’s has refused to make an offer around pay until the results of a court case the union took against them this week are known. At the same time, they are giving all non-union staff a 60c an hour pay rise (ten cents above that mandated by the legal minimum wage increase) but not applying that increase to...

A 19 year old Unite union member has reclaimed over $1200 in backpay after complaining that she wasn't rostered at all, for three weeks in a row. Stacey, who works at a McDonald's in West Auckland should have been rostered 24.5 hours per week under the secure hours system in the collective agreement, but was removed from the roster at her store after trying to reduce her availability to work for McDonald's because she secured a second job. This sort of thing used to be more common with fast food companies casually making dramatic cuts to worker's hours or taking...

Unite union has made a public appeal for Ronald Mcdonald to make contact about dramatic cuts in his hours of work. “There are many media reports that, due to the “creepy clown” phenomenon, McDonalds has dramatically cut back on Ronald’s hours of work" said Unite National Secretary Gerard Hehir (see  Radio New Zealand: McDonalds not clowning around ). McDonalds committed to Unite last year that all their workers being guaranteed at least 80% of their usual hours each week. We are asking McDonalds to confirm that they will honour this agreement with Ronald.  The creepy clown craze is not Ronald’s fault...

A major survey of fast food workers in New Zealand has exposed the reality of “Zero Hour Contracts” for workers and some of the myths used to justify them. Over a thousand fast food union members working for the major brands in New Zealand responded to Unite Union’s online survey, with nearly 700 giving detailed information on their working hours over the previous four weeks. That is the biggest response Unite Union has ever had to a member survey.    

2014 was a massive year for Fast Food workers in the U.S. Two McDonalds’ workers from Los Angeles are visiting New Zealand to tell the story and work with fast food workers in New Zealand to keep building the momentum. Genoby Jaimes, 27, has worked at McDonald’s for 6 years and only makes $9.75 an hour. She is a mother of a six year old son. Anggie Godoy,19, has worked at McDonald’s for a year and makes $9 an hour. They will be speaking at the National Fast Food Workers day on Sat Feb 14th (9am, Trades Hall, 147 Great North...