Low Paid Workers Strike in New Zealand

[Bilan]

In Auckland and Hamilton low-paid workers at McDonald's and the Farmers department store are striking and protesting for better pay and working conditions.



The strikes started on September 19th with workers working out of Otara McDonald's, to be accompanied on the picket line by a giant inflatable rat (http://www.unite.org.nz/files/images/mcdrat1.jpg). October 3 saw staff at six different McDonald's walk out, five in Auckland and one in Hamilton. The striking workers at the Auckland Airport McDonald's travelled into the city to support strikers at two other stores, while when the Hamilton strikers left their store, only mangers who were specially brought in from Auckland, 130km away, were left running the store. During these strikes, which lasted for several hours or longer, many customers left without food rather than cross the picket lines.

The strikes are part of a campaign by the Unite (http://www.unite.org.nz/) union aimed at raising wages and ending the bullying of staff. Currently, staff have no guaranteed hours in their contract, and owners are known to use the shift roster as a means of bullying and controlling unionised staff, amongst others. In September, a Unite member and former Kaiapoi McDonald’s worker was awarded NZ$15,000 (http://www.unite.org.nz/?q=node/518) (US$9700) after she had her hours cut and was bullied into resignation after joining the union.

Negotiations for a new contract have stalled since they began in March. Unite plans to keep the strikes going until McDonald's accept their demands.

For images from the McDonald's strikes, click here (http://www.unite.org.nz/?q=node/517). Some information about Unite's previous campaign for improved rights and conditions at fast food stores, see Super Size My Pay - Fast food workers in New Zealand organise for better pay and conditions, 2005-6 (http://libcom.org/library/super-size-my-pay-fast-food-workers-new-zealand-organise-better-pay-and-conditions).

Meanwhile, October 6th, workers at the Farmers department store walked out after being offered what they described as an "insulting pay rise". The workers, members of the National Distribution Union (http://www.ndu.org.nz/), were offered between nothing and 60 cents, with most offered a 20 cent rise on their $13.50 an hour wage (the minimum wage is $12). Workers are seeking $15 an hour. After picketing the store, workers hopped on a union bus and took a drive to the wealthy suburb of Remuera, where the owners of Farmers (worth over NZ$300 million) live. They proceeded to put leaflets in letterboxes all over the neighbourhood and even knocked on the owners door to try to start a discussion - unfortunately, nobody was home.



Libcom (http://libcom.org/news/low-paid-workers-strike-protest-multiple-stores-06102008)

[Bilan]

Unite Press release



Airport's arrest threats against McDonald’s workers won’t fly with Union

Union members from all five McDonald’s restaurants located at Auckland Airport will be on strike from midday to demand pay parity with union workers at KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut.

“However these workers have more than their boss to face-off with today. They are prepared to protest on airport property even if it means facing arrest,” said Unite Union Secretary Matt McCarten.

A strike by young union members last Friday at the Airport was hounded and harassed by security staff and police. Security guards and police physically threatened the workers and issued a trespass notice against their organiser, despite their entirely peaceful action.

“It is absolutely disgraceful that the Auckland and Manukau City Council owned Airport thinks it is fine to threaten people for protesting on public property. Their threats won’t fly with our union and we will be back on Airport property today and prepared to get arrested if need be,” continued Mr. McCarten.

“The conflict between McDonald’s and the more than 1000 Unite Union members has now entered its third week and we have zero tolerance for these sorts of bullying tactics. If protesting for a living wage and fair conditions of work at the world’s biggest fast food company involves getting arrested then that’s what we will have to do,” said Mr McCarten

“Everyday Auckland Airport relies on our poorly paid union members to cook for and clean up after thousands upon thousands of hungry travelers. But until a living wage is won at McDonald’s restaurants the sounds of protest will be heard amongst the roar of jets at Auckland Airport,” concluded Mr. McCarten

[Saorsa]

Yeah, those strikes were pretty impressive. Unite's a bloody good union, the WP has people on it's Executive and a couple of organisers are members of our party.

Incidentally, look at this shit that was posted on Indymedia about the strikes, in response to a comment I made in a thread about a couple of "animal liberation activists" stealing some chickens. I'm glad that there are a handful of anarchists in the world who aren't quite this retarded. ;)

Re: Activists Liberate Lambs and Chickens for World Farm Animals Day (http://indymedia.org.nz/mod/comments/display/115384/index.php)

03 Oct 2008

by Anonymous (http://indymedia.org.nz/mod/accounts/display/0/index.php)
Incidentally, it's kinda telling that there were 11 comments in this thread when I first looked at it, and none at all in the thread about the wave of strikes that has hit McDonalds. Class struggle is apparently not as worthy of congragulations as someone running off with a chicken. Sheesh.

Alastair Reith.


04 Oct 2008

by Anonymous (http://indymedia.org.nz/mod/accounts/display/0/index.php)
Yes this is an obvious traversty to comment on saving animals and completely ignore the poor McDonalds worker who is struggling daily to do their part to get that fucken poison into the veins and arteries of the working class so as to make sure theyre all nice and fucked up by the ages of 12, and all ready and lined up for the big heart attack at 30, and all for a measely $12 an hour. No youre right, they deserve some comments in the McDonalds workers news item...

[Bilan]

I don't know how good Unite is. I heard some dodgy things a while ago (Search it up in Practice). Regardless, UNITE, here, are right, and are doing a good. I'm glad to hear that they're going toe-to-toe with McDonalds.
Much better than liberating a chicken or two...

[Saorsa]

I don't know how good Unite is. I heard some dodgy things a while ago (Search it up in Practice).

If these dodgy things are the dodgy things I think they are, they're not fair criticisms at all and they're coming from an extremely ultea-leftist, idealistic perspective. What did you hear specifically?

[Saorsa]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/showpost.php?p=962245&postcount=2

Yeah, I've heard these before. Nobody is claiming that Unite is a revolutionary union dedicated to overthrowing capitalism, but what it is is a very militant, class-struggle, fighting union that actually gets out there and struggles against the employers. It's very democratic, and the criticisms in that regard are usually very unfair. It's very easy to talk about how Unite doesn't get every single union member to a meeting to decide on the new collective agreement, but what's more important for an organiser to be doing with his time? Driving all over the city picking people up to take them to the meeting in the morning, or actually organising the meeting so it happens for the people who do come along. Unite doesn't have a huge amount of resources, and it needs to invest them wisely. If all the people who attack Unite for being somehow "undemocratic" in this sort of thing volunteered their time to drive around picking union members up or whatever, then theyd have some grounds to complain. But they won't do this, because by and large they're a bunch of ultra-leftist, ultra-critical whingers.

Unite's democracy isn't perfect, but it is good, and it's probably the best of any union in New Zealand.

Unite's also very open to bolshies working within it. Other unions, such as the EPMU (largest private sector union in the country), actually have clauses that require union members to seek permission from the Executive if they want to run for office on a communist platform. Unite on the other hand is almost entirely made up of left wing political activists, and has many revolutionary socialists working in it. You don't see this level of radical presence in any other union in NZ.

There's even a bookshelf in Unite HQ that has left wing newspapers and magazines on it, including many radical ones. There was a bit of a struggle to make the top shelf the political one, rather than the bottom, and this struggle was succesful. You sure wouldn't see this in any other unions!

Overall, Unite isn't perfect, but it is good, and it's far and away better than the other unions in NZ. It's one of the few militant unions we have left, and the only one that could truly be called radical in any sense, and it always pisses me off when leftists here attack Unite over petty shit when they should be helping to build it.