A Working Class Hero is something to be

$15 an hour Campaign Newsletter October 1st 2009

Dear $15 an hour supporter,

The movement to get the minimum wage to $15 an hour is stepping up to a new level. Momentum has been building across New Zealand as union members, activists and supporters begin to get the petition outinto workplaces, universities and the community. The petition is appearing at bars in pubs, front-desks in community law centres, passed around stop-work meetings and on stalls.

To make sure we get 350,000 petition signatures by next May we need some working class heroes:

15 for $15
We are asking all those who support the campaign to get 15 signatures for the $15 minimum wage before October 30th. At work, home, with your friends - this should only take 15 minutes. Getting signatures is easy (see below). Click here to download the form, print it out and go. Just do it!

Be a Hero
Commit to getting 100 signatures and you will be an official $15 an hour Working Class Hero. We'll send you forms, badges, stickers and pamphlets. Click here to sign up as a working class hero now. Download the petition here to get started now.

Join the 300
A small number of committed people can make a huge difference. The movie "300" immortalised 300 Spartan heroes who defied 200,000 Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae. The $15 an hour campaign needs 300 modern heroes who will commit to getting 1,000 signatures each by May 2010. We'll send you forms, badges, stickers and pamphlets. Once you send us 300 signatures we will send you the official $15 working class hero badge, T shirt and cap.

The 300 heroes who get 1,000 signatures will be personally commemorated at the Unite National Office and publicly as true heroes of the working class. Click here to join the 300 by email. Download the petition here to get started right away.

Getting signatures is easy
Everyone who gets out and about with the petition is finding it easy to get people to sign:

Unite delegate Esther Ma’ake (pictured) signed up 130 people in the video store where she works in just one week.

410 bus drivers and 100 fire fighters sign the petition at industrial actions. One veteran firefighter asked us why we weren’t going for $20 an hour. He was serious!

200 campaign packs were distributed at the Labour Party conference in Rotorua. Labour promises to renew it’s commitment to fight for working people as conference delegates take the petition back to regions across New Zealand.

The International Socialists in Dunedin have gathered 1100 signatures. Some of their tips on getting signatures:
... the response is invariably positive, with the majority of people taking leaflets and a considerable number stopping long enough to sign......Simply asking people “will you help raise the minimum wage?” tends to catch people’s ear. With very few exceptions, people are right on board....Your energy makes the difference between 50 signatures and 150 signatures. If you are confident and enthusiastic about your work, those you talk to will be too.

Read more about their campaign efforts here.

Minimum Wage Trick or Treat in Auckland City
Friday October 30 2009

On the night before Halloween join the PROTEST MARCH FOR $15HR LIVING WAGE in Aotea Square at 7pm followed by a Halloween party at a secret location. Wear a Halloween costume and be part of a protest with a difference.

We won the 8 hour day and no youth rates because of strikes. Not because the bosses are nice. On Friday 30 October round up your friends and workmates and head into the city for the world’s biggest Trick or Treat.
“John Key, trick or treat? Will the minimum wage in 2010 be a trick or a treat?”

Join the Unite campaign team for a campus odyssey
The Unite Union campaign team will be heading around Auckland and Waikato campuses over the next two weeks. We need students, campus workers and university staff to help out with lecture speaks, running stalls, putting up posters, doing the rounds in the bars and giving out leaflets. Want to help? Text or email your name and campus to 029 445 5702 or campaign@unite.org.nz.

Get in touch with the $15 campaign

Send a text to 029 445 5702 or email to sign up as a working class hero

Join the campaign on facebook

Forward this email to your friends and get them to sign up for the newsletter - just use [FORWARD]

Follow Unite and the campaign on twitter

Put the $15 an hour web banner on your website or blog - click here

Order a bulk order of badges (30 cents each) and T-shirts ($15 each) from the Unite office - click here.

Download the petition here

Click here for more campaign information.

Meet Joe
Community activist, teacher and Unite union delegate Joe Carolan has been appointed to spearhead the campaign full time. He brings a wealth of experience in social justice movements in Ireland and Aotearoa. You’ll be hearing more from him soon but if you need to get in contact with him then email him here or text 029 445 5702


We need a $15 minimum wage

An adult in a full time job should have a reasonable standard of living without getting into debt or relying on charity or income support. $15 an hour - $600 a week - is a good start.

Fire fighters, school support staff, bus drivers and supermarket workers have all either been on strike or demonstrated against poverty wages in the last few weeks. This campaign is about their struggle to make ends meet on less than a liveable wage.

National Office
phone: 0800 2 UNITE
Fax: 09 846 9509
email: support@unite.org.nz
postal address:
PO Box 7175
Wellesley St
Auckland