Unite

A Kaiapoi McDonald's worker was recently awarded $15,000 after her employer was found by the Employment Relations Authority to have constructively dismissed their 18 year old employee, Chantelle Coup, after she joined the union. They were also found to have been destructive in their dealings with Unite Union and to have used undue influence to get their employees to resign from the union.

The restaurant manager was described in the Authority report to have been in a "position of significant influence" over their work. The boss, Patrick Cornish, was described as a "father figure", and it was acknowledged that McDonalds Kaiapoi is "part of a large and powerful organisation."

Rolling popcorn strikes start in Henderson

Mon 16 Jun 08

On Tuesday 10 June, at 6pm, 26 cinema workers from Skycity Henderson went on an 80 minute 'popcorn strike' asking cinema patrons to support an ongoing boycott of the confectionery bar to support their demands for reasonable pay and secure hours.

The strikes will spread around the country until the company offers cinema workers a better contract.

Unite union members in the SkyCity Cinema chain have overwhelmingly rejected their employer's final offer made in this year's round of bargaining.

"The so-called 'offer' was no more than the legal minimum wage for a majority of workers," said Unite National Director Mike Treen.

"If the offer was accepted cinema workers would be paid significantly less than those in the fast-food industry who are also represented by our union.