Burger King 'disappointed' workers striking over pay and conditions, alleged wage breaches
Friday, 15 June 2018
Burger King workers are the latest to go on strike, joining a string of low wage workers demanding their employment rights and one manager said staff were 'worked to the bone'.
The chain's union members will strike nationwide on Friday and plan to picket at Burger King's Auckland West City Mall and Dominion Rd stores.
But Burger King's marketing general manager James Woodbridge said the decision for employees striking was 'very disappointing'.
'Burger King New Zealand has and continues to work constructively with Unite Union on collective bargaining negotiations,' Woodbridge said.
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West City Mall's Burger King manager Chrissy Barnett said she has not been paid for overtime work on her salary.
'They just work you to the bone until you loose it and have a mental breakdown. Our store has such a fast turnover so we get the s….. end of the stick.'
Unite Union national secretary Gerard Hehir said its Burger King members were paid some of the lowest pay rates among fast food companies and were striking for better working conditions and pay for overtime.
'We were disgusted to find salaried managers, who supervise staff and manage stores on their own, sometimes working for less than the minimum wage. They are routinely expected to not take breaks and to work extra hours without pay or time off,' Hehir said.
'When your hourly rate is just $16.88 – only 34 cents above the minimum wage – you only have to work around one hour unpaid a week to go below the minimum wage.'
Hehir said a case about a former salaried manager who was allegedly being paid below minimum wage was before the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), and the union had asked the Labour Inspectorate to investigate this and other minimum standards breaches within the organisation.
The union has been asking for clock in/clock out time records for all salaried members but said Burger King had refused.
Hehir said many salaried managers were migrant workers and vulnerable to employment breaches.
'Pay rates are only effective if you actually get paid for all your work. Burger King needs to wake up.'
The union also raised concerns about health and safety but Burger King would not comment on any issues related to these concerns.
Woodbridge said: 'the health, safety and wellbeing of all our employees and customers is and remains of paramount importance to us, and until these negotiations have concluded, we are not in a position to comment publicly on any issues relating to them, until they have been resolved within the appropriate forum.'
After an Employment Court decision which ruled in favour of fast food chain Wendys last month, its workers took industrial action over concerns around union members' hours being cut by 20 per cent, minimum hours per week, rostering and breaks.
In recent months unions have also raised concerns over holiday pay calculations, with NZ Payroll Practitioners Association chief executive David Jenkins having called it a 'nightmare' for business owners to calculate.
But last month Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway announced a review of the Holidays Act.
The announcement came after it was revealed thousands, if not millions, of part-time workers may have missed out on annual leave entitlements because of a flawed process of calculating payments.
Unions said workers in restaurant chains, cinemas, and security had been affected, with the finger pointed directly at fastfood giants McDonald's and Wendy's, which they claimed had failed to pay all employees for working public holidays and provide them a lieu day.