UNITE is a fighting union that represents fast food and retail workers in Victoria, Australia. UNITE is committed to abolishing youth wages, casualisation and low pay.
To join UNITE call our office on (03) 9328 1555.
June 26th, 2009
The following is the text from a new leaflet produced by UNITE about issues facing international students in the workplace. An A4 version of the leaflet can be downloaded here. If you would like to be sent a number of these leaflets to handout or circulate, contact UNITE on 03 9328 1555 or email the office.
International students face many barriers in the workplace because of the 20 hour work restriction (condition 8104 and 8105). It means that most international students cannot legally work more than 20 hours per week during semester. Many international students have no choice but to work over 20 hours per week to make enough to get by, particularly due to rising student fees and the rising cost of living.
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June 19th, 2009
Article written by Aleks Devic in the Geelong Advertiser June 19th, 2009
A Geelong worker says he was forced to clean urine from a 7-Eleven store while being paid less than $10 an hour.
Mohamed Rashid was so desperate to get work he claims he underwent a two-month trial at the Moorabool St store without any pay.
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May 22nd, 2009
Hoodies, T-Shirts, Badges…
UNITE is selling merchandise to help raise money for the struggle against the greedy bosses in the fast food and retail industries.
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May 8th, 2009
In response to an article in last weeks Melbourne Times, UNITE has written the following reply.
Dear editor,
In last weeks MT article “Retail jobs in jeopardy due to new industrial relations laws”, retail bosses are apparently hardly done by because of the new industrial laws. Their solution is to sack staff, increase casualistaion and bump up prices for consumers.
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April 8th, 2009
Last night The Union Show on Channel 31 ran a story about UNITE’s campaign against 7-Eleven. Click the link here to watch the clip on Blip TV. The UNITE story comes on after about 7 minutes.
This particular show also looks at the situation facing DSE firefighters, construction worker safety and a tribute to a good friend of UNITE, Dave Kerin. We urge all of our members and supporters to check out The Union Show 7pm every Tuesday night on Channel 31. Many thanks to the crew at SKA TV for producing such a fantastic show every week!
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March 12th, 2009
From the Geelong Advertiser, By Rebecca Tucker
A union has labelled a Geelong store owner “one of the worst in the country”. Moorabool St 7-Eleven is being investigated by the Workplace Ombudsman following claims it under-pays staff.
Victoria’s fast food and retail workers union, UNITE, yesterday launched a new attack on the store’s franchisee, Eddie Chan, claiming he told workers “that if they want to have security guards present on Saturday nights they will have to pay for it out of their own wages”.
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February 20th, 2009
Bruce Lindsay, convenor of the Geelong Greens, had this opinion piece published in the Geelong Advertiser on February 19.
Geelong Trades Hall and the retail and fast food workers union, Unite, organised a protest at a 7-Eleven store in Geelong last week.
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February 16th, 2009
By UNITE member, Kirk Leonard
On Friday February 13 more than 100 people attended a rally outside the 7-Eleven store in the heart of Geelong. The protest called for 7-Eleven to start paying its workers the legal minimum wage and for all unpaid wages to be paid back to them. The rally was also demanding that one of the workers, who was sacked for making a complaint, be reinstated.
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February 7th, 2009
Article from the Geelong Advertiser February 7th 2009
A Geelong 7-Eleven store is being investigated after claims some workers are being paid as little as $5 an hour. An employee claimed franchise management was bullying staff to work 24-hour shifts or face getting the sack.
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February 6th, 2009
Time for 7-Eleven to stop breaking the law
On Friday February 13 between 12 noon and 1pm UNITE will stage an action outside the 7-Eleven store at 115 Moorabool Street Geelong. This store is located on the corner of the mall in the Geelong city centre.
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January 13th, 2009
International press exposes 7-Eleven and ‘20 hour rule’
By Roger Maynard, Australia Correspondent, Straits Times Singapore
International students in Australia are often given misleading information by overseas recruitment companies and frequently exploited in the workplace, a new report has claimed.
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December 16th, 2008
Are you planning on getting a casual job to make some extra cash over the holiday period? This is one of the busiest times of the year for the retail and fast food industries. Many shops put on extra staff to cover their increased work load.
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December 15th, 2008
Text of new leaflet aimed at 7-Eleven workers
Since August 2008 UNITE has been campaigning to improve the wages and conditions of 7-Eleven workers. Our work has led to some 7-Eleven workers getting pay increases and others getting back pay because they were underpaid. Many more workers that were getting paid ‘cash in hand’ are now on the books and being paid properly.
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December 3rd, 2008
New laws that expose bosses to big fines if they pay workers’ wages ‘in-kind’ or make unauthorised deductions from their pay packets have taken effect in Victoria this week.
The Victorian Workers’ Wages Protection Act requires employees’ wages to be paid in money. This bans all in-kind payments such as paying retail employees with discounted clothes or free DVD hire!
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November 27th, 2008
Rally 12 noon Friday November 28 @ 272 Faraday Street Carlton!
The Student Housing Action Cooperative (SHAC) is a collective of students and supporters who have been occupying four vacant buildings owned by the University of Melbourne for nearly four months. The students are campaigning to highlight the housing crisis and to secure some affordable student housing in the Carlton area.
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