Over the last week workers at fast-food restaurants have once again walked off the job to strike against youth rates and for better pay and condition. The SuperSizeMyPay.com campaign is calling for the abolition of youth rates, secure hours and an immediate minimum wage rise to $12.00. On Wednesday KFC workers went on strike in Auckland. A solidarity bus went to several stores around the city and workers went on wildcat strikes.

On Friday 24th Feb. 60 call center workers, who take delivery orders for KFC and Pizza Hut nation-wide, went on strike for one hour. In west Auckland, workers from two fast food stores became the first ever striking Burger King workers in New Zealand. The workers took action despite a memo sent from their head office falsely claiming that they would be fired if they took industrial action. [ Unite Media Release ] 1

Meanwhile, in Porirua Wellington, one of the highest volume KFC stores in New Zealand was closed when the entire crew walked off the job. The workers were joined by 20 of their non-rostered workmates and 50 supporters, including the Brass Razoo Solidarity Band.

At the same time six hundred engineers are facing redundancy because Air NZ is outsourcing their work to another country. The workers have been betrayed by the government and their union [ Report ]. Rather than fighting for their members' jobs - the jobs of the union members whose subs pay the union bureaucrats' wages - EPMU leaders entered a bidding game with the employer and the government, based around acceptance of massive job losses [ Workers Party Leaflet ].