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NZ McDonald’s workers strike for wages, fair trade coffee

18 October 2008

On October 10, McDonald’s workers who are members of the Unite union, as well as community fair trade groups held a protest outside Queen Street McDonald’s in Auckland.

The rally coincided with strike action across Auckland by Unite members working in McDonald’s McCafes. The strikes aim to pressure the world’s largest fast-food chain to sign a union agreement, giving staff a living wage and to commit to phasing in fair trade coffee.

McDonald’s has refused to make a pay offer to settle the dispute until November. The more than 1000 McDonald’s employees who are Unite members are asking pay-parity with workers at KFC, Pizza Hut and Starbucks.

“We are asking McDonald’s to start paying living wages to workers in New Zealand and to buy coffee through suppliers that offer minimum or guaranteed prices to producers”, Unite organiser Tom Buckley said. For more information, visit http://www.unite.org.nz.