Unite union members have this week ratified an agreement with Burger King which breaks new ground for fast-food workers.

It is the first agreement in the industry which has redundancy payments for workers in the case of a store closure.

It also represents the absolute end of youth rates in all Unite agreements with fast-food companies and cinemas where young workers predominate.

The redundancy clause is a modest start, giving two weeks pay for a worker employed for a year and a weeks pay for each subsequent year in cases where a store closes and an employee cannot be redeployed to another store.

“We are very pleased with this provision which marks a new first for fast-food employees,” says Unite National Director Mike Treen. “Their jobs are still low-paid, casualised work with no guaranteed hours but this is a significant step-up in improving their conditions of employment”.

“To be frank if Burger King can provide a redundancy offer then there is no excuse for any New Zealand firm to deny the same to their employees. With many workers across New Zealand facing redundancy why shouldn’t every worker have some protection for their families built-in to their jobs?”

Other features of the agreement include:

- The end to youth rates in Burger King (called the “training rate” at BK) which means these are now eliminated from all major fast-food companies
- A “security of hours” clause to help stabilize the hours of work offered to workers
- An increase in the length of the minimum shift
- Two payments of $50 for each current union member

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