Cooking Up A Fast Union
Taken from the on line edition of the ETU News (www.etu.asn.au)
A new union for fast food and retail workers has been launched in Melbourne. ETU members will recall the story in last December’s ETU News about ETU apprentice Clinton Jennings and his involvement with Unite, the casual workers rights group. ETU members might also have noticed a story in the Herald Sun (29-5-06), explaining that Unite has just re-launched itself as a new “fighting union for fast food and retail workers”.
As reported in the ETU News, Unite started as an organisation fighting for low paid and casual workers. But “it became clear that much more than a lobby group was required to take on the massive issues faced by workers in the fast food and retails sectors,” says Unite organiser Anthony Main. “These workers, most of which are aged under 25, are some of the most exploited in society. Not only are they forced to work casual hours for low pay but many also face violence or bullying in the workplace,” he said.
In the light of John Howard’s new industrial relations laws, and the negative impact they are having on these already exploited workers, it is good to see young workers getting on the front foot. Unite have said they intend to educate young people about their rights in the workplace, take up the issues that young people face in the wider community and organise them to fight for the decent wages and conditions that they deserve.
Unite is not a technically ‘registered’ union, but Anthony points out that this will not stop it from being able to legally represent groups of workers in negotiations with employers. “It will not have the legal ‘right of entry’ into workplaces that unions traditionally enjoy, but due to the nature of the workplaces this will not stop its organisers walking into shops to talk to workers,” Anthony said.
Anthony urges all workers to get involved, “not only do we want all fast food and retail workers to join, but we need volunteer organisers, office staff, solidarity members and finances.”