Last week UNITE organisers met with the 7-Eleven CEO and HR manager. UNITE was seeking a firm commitment from 7-Eleven Head Office that they will do all within their powers to ensure their franchisees were sticking to the law.
UNITE member Kirk Leonard reports on ‘Maintain the Rage’
The second annual National Young Workers Conference was held in Melbourne on September 12 and 13. The conference was titled ‘Maintain the Rage’ on the basis that, even though there has been a change of government, there is still a fight on our hands to remove the Work Choices legislation introduced by Howard.
In Britain the main union covering shop workers is called the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). Recently the union held an election for General Secretary. A woman by the name of Robbie Segal shook up the right wing leaders by gaining 40% of the vote!
On Thursday September 18 at 6pm the Student Housing Action Collective (SHAC) will host a public meeting to discuss the situation facing international students at work. The address is 272 Faraday Street Carlton.
The meeting will be held at the site of an ongoing occupation. Supporters of SHAC have recently taken possession of four double story terrace buildings in Carlton that have been lying vacant for three years.
Last Friday UNITE staged another successful action against 7-Eleven. This time activists blockaded the 7-Eleven petrol station on Victoria Street in East Melbourne. The usually busy store did next to no business while the action was taking place.
About 50 people attended the action in protest against the poverty wages that 7-Eleven franchisees pay their workers. UNITE has recently revealed that some 7-Eleven workers are paid as little as $8 per hour!
The following article was written by Helen Westerman and published on the websites of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald today.
Foreign students living in Australia are in danger of being exploited by ”unscrupulous employers”, Australia’s workplace watchdog says.
UNITE will be staging another action against 7-Eleven this Friday.
The details are: 5pm – 6pm Friday September 12th outside the 7-Eleven petrol station at 23 Victoria Street East Melbourne. The store is directly across the road from Trades Hall.
National young workers conference in Melbourne
On September 12 & 13 the Victorian Young Unionists’ Network (YUN) is hosting a national young workers conference called ‘Maintain the Rage’. All sessions of the conference will be held at Trades Hall on the corner of Lygon and Victoria Streets in Carlton South.
UNITE will be staging the first of many actions against 7-Eleven this Friday. The details are: 12 – 1pm Friday September 5th outside the 7-Eleven store at 263 Bourke Street City. The store is very close to the corner of Bourke and Swanston Streets.
UNITE is currently campaigning to organise 7-Eleven workers, some of whom get paid as little as $9 per hour. We call on 7-Eleven head office to urgently meet with UNITE officials so we can start to work through the many problems that exist.
A UNITE organiser recently interviewed one of our newest members. Below he tells us a bit about his working conditions and life as an international student. Peter (who has withheld his real name for fear of discrimination) is 22 years old and works at a 7-Eleven store in the Melbourne CBD.