6 February 2006
Public Rally to Support Low Paid Workers
Community invited to attend Public Rally to Support Low Paid Workers
The community and media are invited to the SuperSizeMyPay.com public rally at the Auckland Town Hall on Sunday February
12, 2pm. The free event will be hosted by Rhombus lead MC Imon Star, who will perform with Olmecha Supreme, and will
feature top New Zealand comedians, community speakers and guest bands.
SuperSizeMyPay.Com campaign co-ordinator, Simon Oosterman, said that the rally was supported by many community groups
and the rest of the trade union movement. "All Unite Union members and the public are invited to join workers from the
SuperSizeMyPay.Com campaign at the first mass stopwork meeting of fast food workers in New Zealand since the 1980s.
"Workers involved in the SuperSizeMyPay.com campaign have taken symbolic strike action at Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut
to draw public attention to the issues of low wages. In response, a broad range of community groups, including Make
Poverty History, the Child Poverty Action Group, the Council of Trade Unions and the Green Party, have endorsed our
demands. Before workers are forced to take widespread industrial action - or continue to have their lives being blighted
by a low minimum wage, casualisation of hours and unjust youth rates - workers will take their message to the general
public and customers." said Mr Oosterman.
"Workers are inviting the general public and fast food customers to listen to first hand stories from low paid workers
about the effects of their current work conditions. The experiences of workers clearly shows that it is being
underemployed, overworked and underpaid in the world's 29th most expensive city that causes poverty, and not laziness,
as reported in a recent Herald article.
"In Manukau, for example, 42% of families spend over half of their weekly wage on rent costs alone, which often leaves
no budget for food. All over New Zealand the number of working families using food banks is on the rise.
"Low wages are subsidising multinationals like the big fast food companies who are not paying enough for workers to live
on, often leaving workers no choice but to apply for extra benefits from the government.
"Workers are disappointed at the Government's decision that employers are only required to pay their adult employees
$10.25 an hour from March 27 and will call on those attending to join low paid workers and community groups in demanding
that McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's and Restaurant Brands restaurants Pizza Hut, KFC and Starbucks take the
responsibility to pay their workers a liveable wage by paying the campaign demands and setting the industry benchmark.."
Mr Oosterman said that the meeting will also call for support for Sue Bradford's Minimum Wage (Abolition of Age
Discrimination) Amendment Bill, and call for youth rates to be abolished for all workers, including those under 15.
"Unless the companies listen to workers and public demands for a $12 minimum wage, the abolition of youth rates and
secure hours, fast food workers will be forced to take wide spread industrial action or continue to have their lives
disrupted by insecure hours, low pay and age based discrimination" he concluded.
ENDS