Wendy's workers strike after negotiations break down

Saturday, 26 May 2018

Unite Union members and supporters have gone on strike at Wendy's across the country following stalled negotiations for a new collective agreement.

Wendy's workers have gone on strike after collective agreement negotiations broke down, with more action likely in the coming week.

Unite Union issued a strike notice to Wendco, the company behind the fast food chain, which covered stores across the country from 6am Saturday until midnight Sunday - though the strikes planned are intermittent and limited to peak times.

Rose Williams, who works at Wendy's in Hornby, said the way staff are being treated is 'disrespectful'.

Workers from the Hornby store in Christchurch walked off the job on Saturday afternoon over accusations Wendy's has cut union members' hours by up to 20 per cent since the most recent collective agreement expired on May 21. Further strikes are expected next week in other stores across the country.

Rose William has worked at the Wendy's in Hornby, Christchurch since it opened almost five years ago. She said the way workers who belonged to the union were being treated was 'disrespectful'.

Representatives of Unions Canterbury joined Wendy's workers who walked off the job to strike in Hornby over stalled collective contract negotiations.

Unite Union accuses Wendy's of cutting its member's usual hours by as much as 20 per cent after the most recent collective agreement expired on May 21.

* Workers, MP fight zero-hour contracts at Wendy's fast food

* Hospitality, construction and retail sectors most penalised for employment breaches**

'I've been pretty loyal to this company, and you get nothing back from them.'

Williams said there were issues around minimum hours per week, rostering and breaks which had led her to be part of the strike.

She said the union was 'not too far away from settling' the collective agreement, but felt as though Wendy's were using 'stalling tactics'.

Unite Christchurch organiser Moniqua Reid said strikes were running for only one hour because workers were not paid during that time.

She said it was hard to work a job where hours were not guaranteed and the pay is very low.

'For fast food workers it's quite a big deal when they go on strike, it doesn't happen very often.'

National secretary Gerard Hehir said strike organisers across the country were going to have a discussion on Monday, with more strike action likely in the coming week.

The union accuses Wendco of cutting its member's usual hours by as much as 20 per cent after the most recent collective agreement expired. Members were transferred onto individual agreements with the same terms and conditions as the previous collective.

Workers were guaranteed under the collective a certain number of hours equivalent to 80 per cent of the hours they had worked over the previous quarter.

Williams alleged Wendy's were trying to put the pressure on union members by cutting their hours.

'They won't roster you over 32 hours, they keep you capped at a certain amount so your guaranteed 80 per cent is around the 25 [hour] mark.'

Unite national director Mike Tween said it was 'a vicious attack on the very limited income these workers already receive'.

Wendy's chief executive Danielle Lendich labelled Treen's comment's 'misleading and inaccurate' and said the parties had worked collaboratively throughout the negotiations.

In a memo to union members on Tuesday, Lendich said workers would still get their 80 per cent, but would have to apply for additional hours by filling out a form.

Unite characterised this as a cut and expressed doubt much additional work would be approved, but Lendich said legally Wendco could only require union members to work their guaranteed hours.

Lendich said the company had offered 100 per cent guaranteed hours as part of the new collective, and blamed Unite for 'putting us and their members in this predicament'.

Treen claimed Wendco was refusing to put clauses into the new collective guaranteeing staff received an alternative holiday for working on a public holiday, among other sticking points.

The company had been calculating whether workers were entitled to a day in lieu for working on a public holiday if they had worked the same day the previous three weeks.

The Employment Relations Authority, in a determination last November, ruled the model was flawed and that workers had missed out on their entitlements.

It ordered the company to calculate any lieu days and arrears owed to past and current employees going back to 2012.

Treen alleged Wendco had yet to follow through.

Lendich said Unite was aware the company was working with the Labour Inspectorate to resolve the issue.