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New Zealand Flame-grill burgers not employment rights, union leader tells Burger King

Low wages, shoddy conditions leave Burger King workers in New Zealand with no option but to strike, Council of Trade Unions general secretary says

BURGER KING should “stick to flame-grilling burgers instead of roasting employment rights,” union leader Sam Huggard warned today as fast-food workers walked out across New Zealand.

The Council of Trade Unions general secretary accused the greasy giant of “muscling through a low-wage, shoddy-conditions business model” leaving members of the Unite union no option but industrial action.

Store managers are paid just 38 cents above New Zealand’s $16.88 per hour minimum wage while salaried workers are expected to do excessive hours of unpaid overtime.

Unite national secretary Gerard Hehir explained: “If they work an hour or an hour-and-a-half overtime, which is quite common, then they’re actually working for less than the minimum wage.”

He said Burger King workers were among the lowest paid in the fast-food industry.

“They have lagged behind. We’ve always had to drag them kicking and screaming up to somewhere near the levels but they’ve always stayed behind,” he said.

Mr Huggard said: “Unite has made it really clear to Burger King that its lack of action to clean up unpaid work hours, low pay, lack of breaks and poor salary progression is unacceptable. 

“But goodwill has gone up in smoke as Burger King still thinks they can muscle through a low-wage, shoddy-conditions business model.”

He said it was time for employers to rethink what New Zealanders will accept when it comes to fair pay and treatment of working people.

“It’s time for employers to swiftly recalibrate what New Zealanders will accept when it comes to the fair pay and treatment of working people in this country,” he blasted.

Burger King said it was “disappointed” by the strike.

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