7 October 2008

McDonald’s supports fair pay for employees

McDonald’s New Zealand remains committed to offering fair pay to its 7500 employees across the country, and disputes comments made by Unite Union regarding the company and its wage negotiations in the wake of further strike action announced by Unite today.

Managing Director Mark Hawthorne, himself a former McDonald’s restaurant employee, says: “McDonald’s is bargaining in good faith and will continue to do so.”

“McDonald’s is one of New Zealand’s largest employers and we firmly reject Unite’s suggestion that we do not offer pay parity with similar businesses,” says Mr Hawthorne.

The average hourly rate paid by McDonald’s-owned restaurants is around $13.50, which excludes salaried supervisors, managers, McDonald’s bonus schemes and other incentives available to restaurant staff.

“McDonald’s has a very different pay rate and training structure from Restaurant Brands, for example, and Unite doesn’t seem to take this into account. We believe on average McDonald’s pays above our competitors, and our retention rates over the last year support this,” says Mr Hawthorne.

“Earlier this year we were congratulated by Unite for our decision to remove youth rates. Our labour costs increased by $7 million on 1 March 2008 but we believe it was the right thing to do for our staff.

“We are now consulting further on Unite’s proposal with our 53 franchisees around the country, and have committed to responding after our November franchisee meeting.”

ENDS