Al Brown's Best Ugly Bagels staff negotiate collective agreements

Wednesday, 9 December 2020

Workers at celebrity chef Al Brown’s Best Ugly Bagels want to be covered by a collective employment agreement to negotiate better working conditions.

Collective employment agreements are negotiated by registered unions representing members, while individual agreements are negotiated by an employer and an employee.

Best Ugly Bagels employs about 90 workers across six outlets in Auckland and Wellington, and supplies bagels to cafés and restaurants nationwide.

Worker and E tū union delegate Thomas Carlyle said although Best Ugly Bagels was a “good working environment” staff felt that, under a collective employment agreement, they could work with senior management to make improvements.

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Best Ugly Bagels employs about 90 workers across six outlets in Auckland and Wellington, and supplies bagels to cafés and restaurants nationwide.

Another Best Ugly Bagels employee Ines Mitgutsch said being under a collective agreement would help staff feel more confident when challenging things that “don’t seem right”.

Best Ugly Bagels general manager Jeremy Coombes said the company was “committed to working with the union in good faith”.

“The staff decision to join the union is entirely up to them, it is their choice which we support,” he said.

E tū organiser Mat Danaher said generally the hospitality industry was “plagued” with issues such as low wages, long hours and exploitation.

He said getting a collective agreement for unionised staff could help them negotiate the Living Wage and Fair Pay Agreements.

The Fair Pay Agreements aim to set minimum standards across industries through bargaining for employees and contractors.