$112,000 back paid to Melbourne 7-Eleven workers
UNITE’s year long campaign starts to bring results
UNITE’s campaign against convenience store giant 7-Eleven is starting to bring results. After a series of protests and media publicity, UNITE has forced the Fair Work Ombudsman to take action against 7-Eleven franchisees that have been underpaying international students.
Five 7-Eleven stores in Melbourne’s CBD will reimburse 88 workers $112,000. A sixth 7-Eleven store has been instructed to credit almost 1000 hours of annual leave back to 12 workers who were not accruing the entitlement but should have been.
The Fair Work Ombudsman said that “The random audits followed public allegations by a retail union that young employees were being exploited and that some employers were forging employment records.”
The underpayments found at each store were $32,134 for 18 workers, $27,053 for 25 workers, $24,987 for 25 workers, $23,671 for 16 workers and $3,615 for four workers.
The Melbourne outcome follows the recent recovery of $50,000 for 80 workers at 15 7-Eleven stores in Sydney’s CBD. UNITE is still pursuing back pay for a several groups of workers employed by 7-Eleven in Geelong.
While this result is very good and shows that international students do not have to put up with super-exploitation, it is just the tip of the iceberg. UNITE estimates that hundreds, if not thousands, more 7-Eleven workers have been ripped off. The next step is to organise 7-Eleven stores to ensure that underpayment is stamped out.
If you work in fast food or retail join UNITE today. We are the only union that fights for young workers and international students rights.