Rise Up! Solidarity action with Rainbows End workers tommorow, Sat 30th June @ 11am

Solidarity action with young minimum wage workers at Rainbows End who are negotiating their first collective agreement. They are currently on minimum wage and are organizing to get rid of youth rates!

Please forward this email to everybody.

What:

Solidarity action with young minimum wage workers at Rainbows End who are negotiating their first collective agreement. They are currently on minimum wage and are organizing to get rid of youth rates!

When:

Saturday, 11.00am Saturday, 30th June 2007

Where:

Rainbows End, cnr Great South & Wiri Station rd Manukau City Auckland

Why?

Young workers at Rainbows End in Manukau need our help.

The young minimum wage workers at Rainbows End have been organizing with the National Distribution Union for better wages, an end to youth rates, secure hours and recognition of long service. The adult workers are on $11.25 and young workers are on $9. Long servicing staff members (2 years-10 years) are on $11.25-$13.10 with the majority still on the minimum wage. They have rejected the company’s offers and feel that the company is dragging negotiations out. For the majority of workers this is their first job and only a few have ever been in a union before. The workers don’t want to accept the companies offer, but they need our support to help build their confidence to take action. We need to show them that their community cares and that we are willing to give them the support they need so that they can stand up and fight back.

We need to raise our opposition to youth rates again – the select committee will be voting on Sue Bradford’s youth rates bill this Thursday and our complete opposition to youth pay discrimination needs to be heard.

Rainbows End is a high-profile company and there is already high media interest in any actions that may occur at New Zealand’s only theme park. We can use this interest and media attention to raise the political issues of ending youth rates and the need for a living wage for all as well as giving our support to the young workers.

We need to build a broader community and union campaign against poverty-wages, we need to build out ability to win real changes for low paid workers and the un-employed, whilst fighting towards a broader goal of a living wage for all.

We need to build a grassroots solidarity network to support fights in our community such as against Mercury Energy at the recent tragedy in Mangere, support for Unite’s striking Hotel workers, the SFWU cleaners campaign and all of the other campaigns in our community.

We can do it!

Please pass this message around your friends, family, co-workers and any organizations you belong to. Let’s show the Rainbows End workers we support them in their fight for a living wage!

If you have any questions of comments, please feel free to contact me for further information.

Simon Oosterman

NDU Publicity and Media Liason

m. +64 (0)21 922 551 | dd. +64 (0)9 622 8433 | e. media@ndu.org.nz | skype. simonoosterman | w. www.ndu.org.nz

a. 120 Church Street, Onehunga, Auckland, Private Bag 92-904

Stand up, Fight back

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