Fast-food staff picket for a rise
Palmerston North fast-food workers have joined thousands around New Zealand in striking to demand higher pay.
Staff from KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl’s Jr and Starbucks restaurants around the country walked off the job at midday on Saturday after pay negotiations broke down last week.
The group picketing the Rangitikei St KFC was part of the 2000 Restaurant Brands workers who are asking the company for an extra 30 cents an hour over three years.
Palmerston North KFC workers Claire Sellwood and Summer Simon said most employees got 26 hours of work each week, and no matter how careful they are with money, it’s a struggle to keep afloat at minimum wage on those hours.
‘‘It’s horrible. We deserve a living wage, so we don’t have to live from week to week,’’ Simon said.
Sellwood added that if any extra costs come along, like the dentist or doctor, they’re left scrambling to find extra hours.
‘‘But when you’re on fixed shifts it’s hard to pick up more hours. If we had a decent wage, we wouldn’t have to worry about that,’’ Simon said.
The strikers also aimed to get the shift supervisors, who train staff and manage the day-to-day running of their restaurants, a 75 cent rise over the next three years, in recognition of their extra responsibilities.
KFC supervisors, who were mostly women, were being paid $1.80 an hour less than cooks, who were mostly men. Cooks were given a $2.50 pay rise last year.
Unite national secretary Gerard Hehir, who joined the Palmerston North picket line on Saturday, said something needed to be done.
‘‘Unite doesn’t begrudge KFC cooks getting a pay-rise. They deserve a living wage as well, but it has highlighted just how underpaid the shift supervisors are.
‘‘These are not school kids. They are qualified and experienced workers, who can run a store on their own – managing staff, managing a retail store and [managing] a food-production facility. They deserve a living wage and Restaurant Brands can afford to pay them a living wage,’’ Hehir said.
The refusal to increase pay comes after Restaurant Brands announced on Thursday a profit of $26 million after tax, up $1.9m from the previous year.
In October, Restaurant Brands bought Pacific Island Restaurants, the sole Pizza Hut and Taco Bell operator in Hawaii and Guam, with 82 stores.
It’s expected to add $180m in annual revenue to the company.
‘‘They have paid their chief executive a million-dollar bonus... [but] the workers, who actually make and sell their products, have to go on strike to get a few cents above the minimum wage,’’ Hehir said.
Restaurant Brands chief executive Russel Creedy was paid a $1m bonus in 2015 for keeping the company’s share price above $4 for 40 consecutive trading days.
Unite Manawatu convenor John Shennan said New Zealand needed to share wealth more fairly.
‘‘We just need to keep the momentum going... Workers rights and fair income are going to be big issues in the election.’’
Unite has also accused Restaurant Brands of refusing to offer redundancy payment for workers. Workers are given one week’s notice if they are fired.
On Friday, Creedy would not answer questions about why cooks were paid more than shift supervisors.
In a statement, Creedy said the company had made an offer to workers that was rejected and it was disappointed workers were striking.