UNITE is a fighting union that represents fast food and retail workers in Victoria, Australia. UNITE is committed to abolishing youth wages, casualisation and low pay.
To join UNITE call our office on (03) 9328 1555.
June 22nd, 2011
Employers have succeeded in their cynical attempt to reduce the minimum shift for young retail workers. Fair Work Australia this week ruled that the minimum three-hour shift be reduced to 1.5 hours.
Business leaders have touted this as a victory for both employers and workers. This could not be further from the truth. A casual worker on the lowest retail youth rates gets paid roughly $9.50/hour. A ‘full’ 1.5 hour shift for this young worker would barely bring in $14. To put this in context, a daily concession train ticket costs $5.80. It will cost a student almost half their day’s wage to get to and from work.
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April 27th, 2011
But workers still owed thousands in back pay
A decision was made in the Melbourne Magistrates Court last week to fine the former operators of two 7-Eleven stores $150,000. At the same time Magistrate Kate Hawkins ordered Bosen to back-pay six workers close to $90,000. Unfortunately these workers will probably never see their money.
The scam was uncovered by UNITE who exposed the 7-Eleven franchise for paying as little as $9 per hour. The company Bosen Pty Ltd was ordered to pay $120,000 in penalties while the operators Hao Chen (Eddie) and Xue Jing (Jane) have been individually fined $20,000 and $10,000 respectively.
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February 18th, 2011
UNITE has launched the “Respect Workers Rights” campaign on and around Brunswick Street, Fitzroy!
We want to make sure employers are sticking to the law and workers are receiving their full entitlements.
UNITE has received many complaints from workers on and around Brunswick street about dodgy bosses not sticking to the law. Over the coming weeks we will be auditing employers to find out who is and isn’t paying the minimum wage and entitlements, and providing a safe and healthy workplace.
Employers who are sticking to the law will receive a ‘This workplace respects its workers rights’ sticker to display on their window. Employers who aren’t will be ‘named and shamed’ until they start doing the right thing!
If you can help in any way, please let us know. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
See you on Brunswick Street!
February 7th, 2011
By Michael Quin. Published in the Melbourne Times Weekly, February 1st
Exploitative employers on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, could be named and shamed in a union campaign to clean up the street’s reputation for underpaying staff.
Yarra councillor and UNITE retail workers union secretary Anthony Main said audits would be carried out this month to find out if employers were providing award wages, casual loading, overtime, payslips and health and safety standards.
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February 1st, 2011
UNITE is launching the new ‘Respect Workers Rights’ campaign, focusing on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Many workers in the fast food, retail and hospitality industries do not receive their full legal entitlements at work.
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November 24th, 2010
Are you planning on getting a casual job to make some extra cash over the holiday period? This is one of the busiest times of the year for the retail and fast food industries. Many shops put on extra staff to cover their increased work load.
It is common for bosses to try and rip young workers off during this period. Problems you may face at work include the underpayment of wages, not being given rest breaks, bullying and harassment or unsafe working conditions.
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November 12th, 2010
A recent audit of employers in Braeside, Coburg and Reservoir by the Fair Work Ombudsman has found that one third of employers are not complying with workplace laws.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is the government body that is supposed to be responsible for ensuring employers stick to workplace laws. Their recent audit found 35 businesses in these suburbs breaching the rules.
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September 24th, 2010
The Fair Work Ombudsman is continuing to investigate 7-Eleven convenience stores in Victoria after finding more than a third of 56 stores it audited had breached workplace laws.
Following a self-audit process rolled out with the co-operation of 7-Eleven’s corporate headquarters, the FWO between September 2009 and February 2010 audited the time and wage keeping records, pay slip details, and wage payments of 56 franchisees in Melbourne and Geelong.
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September 17th, 2010
UNITE, the fighting union for fast food and retail workers in Victoria, was appalled to read the “7-Eleven Stores Audit Campaign: Final Report” released today by the Fair Work Ombudsman. See: http://www.fwo.gov.au/Audits-and-campaigns/Documents/2010/7-Eleven-Store-Education-and-Audit-Campaign.pdf
This audit was conducted after UNITE waged a long campaign against the super-exploitation of international students in 7-Eleven stores. The main complaint UNITE has made is that there is a far reaching scam being orchestrated by 7-Eleven franchisees whereby they pay employees for only half the hours they work.
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August 27th, 2010
UNITE Organiser Mel Gregson was recently interviewed on 3CR’s Stick Together about the campaign for better wages and conditions for Bakers Delight workers.
Listen to the interview here:
http://podcast.3cr.org.au/pod/3CRCast-2010-08-22-76989.mp3
or here:
http://www.3cr.org.au/aggregator/sources/797
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August 12th, 2010
The following article from Workplace Express outlines UNITE’s recent win against a Bakers Delight franchisee in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. See below.
Workplace Express article (subscription required)
Article can also be viewed here.
August 9th, 2010
After a months long process, Fair Work Australia has finally refused to approve a Bakers Delight Enterprise Agreement. The agreement would have covered the Diamond Creek, St Helena and Laurimar stores in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
UNITE, the fighting union for fast food and retail workers, had challenged the agreement in Fair Work Australia claiming that it left the young workforce disadvantaged because it undermined many Award conditions.
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May 27th, 2010
UNITE General Secretary Anthony Main was recently interviewed on 3CR’s Stick Together about the campaign to claim unpaid wages for 7-Eleven workers.
Listen to the interview here:
http://www.3cr.org.au/aggregator/sources/797
Read the rest of this entry »
Employers have succeeded in their cynical attempt to reduce the minimum shift for young retail workers. Fair Work Australia this week ruled that the minimum three-hour shift be reduced to 1.5 hours.
Negotiations recently took place between the leadership of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employee’s Association (SDA) and Coles management for a new 3 year national agreement to cover all Coles employees. The proposed agreement, fully endorsed by the SDA leadership, strips back many of the rights and conditions Coles workers had fought for over previous decades, and sets the scene for future attacks on conditions.
Workers at San Churro’s Brunswick Street store in Fitzroy are now being paid penalty rates for the first time. Their win came after they joined UNITE and decided to stand up for themselves.
