16 January 2009                                                                               

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Whangarei fast food workers urge MP to raise the minimum wage

Thirty-eight Whangarei fast food workers at McDonald’s, KFC and Burger King have signed an open letter to their Member of Parliament Phil Heatley urging him and his government to raise the minimum wage by $1 a hour.[1]

The workers are members of the Unite Union which is asking the government to give poor workers a respite from the soaring cost of living this year by lifting the minimum wage.

“Phil Heatley got a $10,000 pay rise in 2008, so he will be an absolute hypocrite if he and his government refuses to move the minimum wage by just $1, and help improve the lives of thousands of Northland workers who are paid at minimum wage or just above it,” said Unite Union National Director Mike Treen.

“If the government is serious about retaining Kiwi workers then it can begin immediately by raising the minimum wage and helping to close the 27.6 percent real wage gap with Australia,” continued Mr. Treen.

“Our Whangarei union members are young and old, of all different ethnicities and backgrounds, but are united in calling for higher wages for the long, hard and stressful work they do in the kitchens of the fast food corporations who feed thousands of people every day,” concluded Mr. Treen.

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