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$15 an hour: they will not be able to resist....
Hi,
Welcome to Unite's email newsletter. We'll be sending this to you every fortnight. To change how you receive this newsletter use the links at the top and bottom of this email.
 On the 11th June we officially launched our $15 an Hour Campaign for a Living Wage. We invited the main candidates in the Mt Albert by-election to come and answer our members questions. It was great to see politicians (in front of a numerous reporters and cameras) having to answer some pretty tough questions from the 200+ Unite delegates and members.
So often workers' issues are forgotten - basic stuff like how someone earning the current minimum wage of $12.50 can make ends meet. While the National candidate Melissa Lee made a complete hash of her answer (see the media coverage in the links below), all the candidates admitted it would be very difficult to survive on $12.50 - something over 100,000 workers in this country have to do every day.
The wealth gap in New Zealand continues to grow. This Statistics NZ map of incomes by suburb shows that working people in poorest Auckland areas have their real incomes grow by just 3% in 15 years. Those in wealthly suburbs saw their income from employment grow by 39%. In real dollars that means the 38 cents an hour more for the poorest and $7.45 for the richest.
This is only the beginning though. Over the next two years we will continue to hold the blowtorch to the politicians about raising the minimum wage. The next eleven months will see us collect over 300,000 signatures on our petition. Everyone will then get a chance to vote on raising the minimum wage to $15.
We must build a movement that politicians simply cannot say no to. Unite union played a key role in getting youth rates abolished and raising the minimum wage with our Supersizemypay campaign. That resulted in large wage increases for many of our members - $3 an hour in some cases. We can do it again. If we succeed with a $15 an hour campaign over 400,000 of the lowest paid kiwi workers would get an immediate wage rise.
That's worth fighting long and hard for.
View a photo slideshow of the meeting here.
Watch a One News item including video from the campaign launch here.
Read the NZ Herald story about the launch here.
 Download the petition and background information here.
Download Ten Good reasons to Sign the Petition (2 double sided A5 Flyers on A4 sheet).
Sign up for the campaign newsletter here or
join the $15 an Hour Campaign Facebook group here.
Wendys holiday entitlements - sorted
Since Christmas Wendy's workers at some stores have been having a hard time getting the alternative days granted after working on public holidays. Unite did casework for some members and got their individual issues resolved. Unite and Wendy’s now have an agreement to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding which will sort out these problems by clarifying policy. Workers who work 3 out of the previous 4 normal days (e.g. worked 3 of the 4 Mondays before a Monday public holiday) will qualify for extra time off as well as the extra pay under the Holidays Act. This means there should be no problems for any Unite member who would normally work on the day on which a given public holiday falls. For more information contact Jared Phillips - email: jared@unite.org.nz or phone 029 494 9863.
Short till? Don't get forced to pay
Unite recently got a Pizza Hut worker $100 back after they had been pressured to reimburse for a till that was short. Unite members are advised not to offer to personally reimburse for till shortfalls. Get in touch with the union if you come under pressure to make up the difference yourself.
BurgerKing Kiwisaver contributions
Burger King workers belonging to the KiwiSaver scheme found in April that wage increases, where applicable, had been reduced or foregone to pay the employers Kiwisaver contribution. This was never agreed to in contract negotiations with Unite. This means that Union members should still have recieved their negotiated rates but didn't. Unite organisers have pressured the company to change this and the company has agreed to make their contribtuion in addition to wages and with backpay to April 1st. The company is not compelled to do this for employees who are not covered by the Unite agreement. Contact your delegate or Unite organiser if you are concerned that your Kiwisaver contributions are not right.
Readings Movieland bargaining update
Unite has been negotiating with Readings cinemas over the Movielands contract over the past three months. There has been some improvements being offered on the transport allowance, projectionist tools, providing milk and sugar along with the tea, coffee and milo and implementation of breaks. Three claims remained outstanding; security of hours, food and beverage discount and the term of the agreement. It seemed like progress was being made on these issue but Readings notified Unite that they will not include security of hours in the contract, they want to remove all food and beverage discounts and have a three year contract!
Readings doesn’t have a single policy on food and beverage discounts so the discount varies from cinema to cinema. At Rotorua Readings staff had their food and beverage discount removed last year without warning. Readings said that staff in Australia don’t get a discount on food or beverages so there was no reason why staff here should get it.
Unite now covers all major cinema companies and Readings Movieland will be the only cinema that doesn’t give its staff a food and beverage discount. Most major cinemas are now including security of hours provisions in their contracts following pressure from the union over the past few years.
Organiser from Unite will be visiting Movieland cinemas over the next few weeks to discuss these issues and the contract. If you have any questions please contact Tom on 029-445-5703 or tom@unite.org.nz
New Unite union fees rolled out
The new union fee rates are now being deducted from members' wages. The changes were put to a postal ballot of members that went out with the new membership card. Over 90% of those that voted endorsed the new fee structure. The main change is that cinema and restaurant workers, who previously paid a $2 flat fee, now pay (almost) the same fees as all other Unite members: 1% of your pay with a $2 minimum and $4 maximum (other Unite workers have a $5 maximum).
So if you earn:
up to $200 a week your fee is $2
$300 a week fee is $3
$400 fee is $4
$500 and over fee is $4 for Cinema and Restaurant, $5 for other sectors.
The change was needed for several reasons:
- Fairness: other Unite members in other sectors on the same wages were paying the higher fees.
- Costs: the cinema and restaurant fee has been $2 for a couple of years while Unite's costs have gone up considerably in that time.
- Campaign: $1 of your fees each week will go towards our $15 an hour campaign. Unite's earlier Supersizemypay campaign to raise the minimum wage and abolish youth rates was very successful and many members received substantial pay rises, especially in the restaurant sector. 1% of the minimum wage is less than $0.13 cents per hour but we aim to get a $2.50 per hour increase - it is an excellent investment for Unite members.
Troubleshooting McDonald’s training
It has come to Unite’s attention that some McDonald’s owners are claiming that the Crew Certificate of Operations (CCO) training is at the employers discretion. Under the new agreement completion of the CCO training entitles crew to an additional 25 cents per hour. After 1 year of service an additional 50 cents per hour is paid. During contract negotiations last year McDonald’s agreed that CCO training would be available to all crew who requested the training. McDonald’s said at the time that they would like to see all crew complete the CCO training. If you having trouble with your management allowing you to do the CCO training please contact your union organiser or delegate.
Several months ago Unite reported that some shift supervisors were still being paid less than the $15 per hour printed in the contract. We have been making some progress on this issue and many managers have had their pay increased to the contract rate. If you or anyone you know is working as a shift supervisor and is not being paid $15 per hour please ask them to contact the union office to check that they are on the correct rate.
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National's failure was on several Key fronts
 After every campaign a party does an analysis of their performance. I suspect the National Party would rather not, given its humiliation in Mt Albert. So I'll do it for them.... read more of Matt's latest Herald on Sunday column.
Read Matt's previous columns here
Check it out:
Jobs on the line
If the government is serious about saving jobs they had better get cracking. This list of redundancies in New Zealand since the government was elected last year. According to the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research there could be 60,000 more in the next year.
Swineflu and you:
Pandemic planning at work
There are steps you can take now to help minimise the risk and impact of an influenza pandemic on your health and your job. If your workplace doesn’t have a pandemic plan its important that you and your employer start preparing for a pandemic now by talking about ways of protecting people's health. Staff often come up with the best ideas on how to make work safer. They can make a valuable contribution to helping workplaces survive the financial impact of a pandemic. This guide will help you understand and prepare for some of the situations that may arise at work during a pandemic .... more.
Increase in Parental Leave Payments
On July 1st the maximum parental leave payment increases from $407.36 per week to $429.74. If you meet the eligibility criteria, you will be entitled to 14 weeks paid leave at either $429.74 per week or 100% of the employee's average weekly earnings, whichever is the higher.
$15 Campaign popular in Lower Hutt
In just half an hour a Unite organiser and two volunteers netted over 70 signups for the the Unite CIR petition in Lower Hutt today. After 20 minutes they were kicked out of the Queensgate mall entrance by the management, although not before one of the security guards signed the petition. Most of the passing public were very keen to support the campaign. Several people, attracted by our big sign, went to the table and filled in the form without being asked.
Unite in the media
Read Unite Organiser John Minto's column in The Press here: Educational vandalism - night-school funding slashed.
Learn more about John Minto's recent rip to South Africa here, including his Press column, TV3's 60 Minutes story and photos.
Read John's previous columns here
Contact Unite
National Office
phone: 0800 2 UNITE
email: support@unite.org.nz
postal address:
PO Box 7175
Wellesley St
Auckland
Northland/Auckland Office
phone: 09 845 2132
address:
6A Western Springs Road
Morningside
Auckland
email: support@unite.org.nz
Waikato/Bay of Plenty
Marama Mayrick
mobile: 029 445 5702
email: marama@unite.org.nz
Wellington/Hawkes Bay & Marlborough Office
phone: 04 384 2946
Matt Jones
mob: 029 201 3837 email:matthew@unite.org
Don Franks
mobile: 021 140 4359
email: don@unite.org.nz
Christchurch
Joe Davies
mobile: 0292013859
email joe@unite.org.nz
Unite Organisers & Staff
Click here for the contact details of all Unite Organisers and staff.
$15 an hour campaign launch photos
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