Unite Secures Historic Victory for 7000 Workers

Unite Secures Historic Victory for 7000 Restaurant Brands Workers

Urgent Press Release: Unite Union/SuperSizeMyPay.com
Saturday 25 March, 2006

An historic victory has been won by low paid workers. Unite Union today announced their members had won a union agreement for 7000 workers with Restaurant Brands, New Zealand’s largest employer in the restaurant industry. Restaurant Brands owns KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut.

“The kinds of benefits the workers have achieved are unprecedented in the fast food industry. Workers will no longer have to put up with their hours being slashed without warning and working long hours with no possibility to move up the pay scale. This is the most important breakthrough for the casualised workforce in 20 years,” said Unite National Director Matt McCarten.

“There is a minimum of 7.9 per cent wage increase across KFC and Pizza Hut stores and 75 cents an hour on all Starbucks rates. Workers under the age of 18 are getting up to a 54 per cent pay rise. This is a step towards wiping out youth rates completely, which Restaurant Brands has agreed to do. As a first step all under 18 year-olds will receive 90 per cent of the adult wage as of next week.

“Restaurant Brands is the largest employer of youth in the country and finally they have realised there is no moral justification for youth rates when these workers do the same work as their older workmates. Not only are we going to see the phasing out of youth rates, but also an end to casualised work in New Zealand.

“Unite’s SuperSizeMyPay.com campaign and the student strike on Monday have had a massive effect. Without the pressure that was exerted by Unite members on their employer, none of this would have been possible. During five months of negotiations the company had refused to shift on youth rates claiming it was a government responsibility. It wasn’t until Monday night after the student strike that an offer to lift young workers to 90% of adult wages was made.

“Hundreds of Unite members and thousands of other supporters worked on this campaign. On behalf of all Restaurant Brands I would like to thank them for their solidarity.

“Now it is up to McDonald’s, Burger King and the other restaurant chains to agree to step up to the benchmark that has been set by Restaurant Brands,” McCarten concluded.

Please find attached below the new pay scales for Restaurant Brands workers as agreed to in the new deal.

RBL Wage Summary

Classification New Rate Old Rate Increase Percentage
$ $ $
KFC
15 years old (Base) 9.23 7.13 2.10 29.5 %
15 (Gold Star) 9.58 7.40 2.18 29.5 %
16 (Base) 9.23 8.08 1.17 14.5 %
16 (Gold Star) 9.58 8.39 1.19 14.2 %
17 (Base) 9.23 8.55 .68 8.0 %
17 (Gold Star) 9.58 8.87 .71 8.0 %
17 (LAS) 11.18 9.37 1.81 19.3 %
17 (Supervisor/Sole Charge) 14.68 11.87 2.81 23.7 %
18 + (Base) 10.75 9.50 .75 7.9 %
18 + (Gold Star) 10.64 9.86 .78 7.9 %
18 + (LAS) 11.18 10.36 .82 7.9 %
18 + (Supervisor/Sole Charge) 14.68 12.86 1.82 14.2 %

Pizza Hut
15 years old (Base) 9.23 6.89 2.34 14.5 %
15 (Gold Expert) 9.58 7.14 2.44 34.2 %
15 (LAS) 11.39 7.40 3.99 53.9 %
15 (Supervisor/Sole Charge) 13.89 9.44 4.45 47.2 %
16 (Base) 9.23 7.80 1.43 18.3 %
16 (Gold Expert) 9.58 8.06 1.47 18.3 %
16 (LAS) 11.39 8.31 3.08 37.1 %
16 Supervisor/Sole Charge 13.89 10.35 3.54 34.2 %
17 (Base) 9.23 8.26 .97 11.8 %
17 (Gold Expert) 9.58 8.52 1.06 12.5 %
17 (LAS) 11.39 8.77 2.62 29.9 %
17 Supervisor/Sole Charge 13.89 10.81 3.08 28.5 %
18 + (Base) 10.25 9.50 .75 7.9 %
18 + (Gold Expert) 10.90 10.10 .80 7.9 %
18 + (LAS) 11.39 10.56 .83 7.9 %
18 + (Supervisor/ Sole Charge) 13.89 12.60 1.29 10.3 %

Starbucks
Start 10.75 10.00 75 7.5 %
After 90 days 11.25 10.50 75 7.2 %
Level 1 11.50 10.75 75 7.0 %
Level 2 11.75 11.00 75 6.8 %
Shift Supervisor 14.25 13.00 1.25 9.6 %
Shift Supervisor with RMT 15.25 14.00 1.25 8.9 %

ENDS

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