From The Age newspaper in Victoria. August 16th 2008, by Sushi Das
The national workplace watchdog is conducting a blitz on 24-hour convenience stores in central Melbourne to see if workers, many of them overseas students, are being exploited.
The crackdown follows claims by UNITE, a fast food and retail workers union, that 7-Eleven stores are underpaying staff, with some earning as little as $9 an hour.
UNITE has been informed of yet another example of young worker super-exploitation. This time it is convenience store 7-Eleven. Some workers have complained that they are only paid $9 per hour for late night and weekend shifts! Most of these workers are international students.
Do you have a 7-Eleven store near your house or workplace? If so please print out this leaflet and give it to the workers in the shop. If you can volunteer a couple of hours to visit 7-Eleven stores and let the workers know about the UNITE campaign please contact Anthony Main on 0417368215.
Below is the text of our 7-Eleven leaflet or click here to download the PDF.
UNITE is deeply disappointed about the news that Starbucks will axe 685 jobs and close 61 of its 84 stores in Australia. This follows the news that Starbucks are closing 600 stores in the US resulting in over 12,000 job losses.
It has been revealed that 17 Victorian outlets will close, including three inner city stores - in Queen, Collins and Bourke streets. Also two stores at Cheltenham and outlets at Port Melbourne, Ballarat, Ringwood, Deer Park, Frankston, Maribyrnong, Forest Hill, Wantirna South, Docklands, Tarneit and the Tullamarine Airport will also close.
Union membership among younger workers is continuing to fall. Currently only one in every ten workers aged between 15 and 24 years belongs to a union. The recently released Social Trends 2008 study actually confirmed union membership rates fell across all age groups between 1986 and 2007.
The ACTU has blamed the membership decline among young workers on the hostile environment created by Work Choices. This has obviously contributed but it is not the only reason.
Maintain the Rage – 12 & 13 September 2008
UNITE is proud to support the National Young Workers Conference – Maintain the Rage.
This conference is being held at Trades Hall (54 Victoria St Carlton) and is being organized by the Victorian Young Unionists Network.
Since UNITE exposed Video Dogs a few weeks ago for paying workers with DVD’s, we have received a couple of letters asking us to clarify our position on young workers, small businesses and the arts. Below is our response to a one of our readers who asked about these issues.
Dear Zac,
Thanks for your letter and interest in our dispute with Video Dogs. However there seems to be some confusion over the exact outcome. Firstly, despite rumours to the contrary, Video Dogs will not be closed down or even fined by the Workplace Ombudsman.
The owner of Video Dogs in Carlton, John Mallalieu, has been forced to admit he has in fact paid workers with DVD hire instead of wages.
After telling the media that “No one had been hired under the DVDs-for-work scheme” the Workplace Ombudsman has revealed that several other workers have not been paid in the past. Mallalieu has now paid these workers up to $100 for two hours work in an attempt to resolve the issue.
UNITE has exposed a video shop owner who offered young workers DVD hire instead of wages. A UNITE member who had enquired about an advertisement in the window of Video Dogs in Carlton alerted the union to the sign and UNITE blew up the story in the media yesterday.
Today UNITE has uncovered a serious example of young worker exploitation. The following article was carried on the website of the Herald Sun and we have had coverage on all of the main TV news and radio.
More details will be posted as they come to hand. In the meantime if you are not being paid properly at work contact UNITE on 93281555.
A new report has shown that 15 per cent of young Australians (aged 12 to 24 years) are hospitalised for injuries sustained while at work.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) report has shown that 12 per cent of these hospitalisations involved young people working for an income, while the other 3 per cent were engaged in work not for income.
Australia has one of the highest rates of casualisation in the OECD. Over 27% of the Australian workforce is currently employed on a casual basis. For young workers aged 15 -24 years, the figure is much higher at over 60%.
What is casual work?
A casual worker is employed by the hour or by the shift rather than being employed on an ongoing permanent basis. Technically its temporary work, although the majority of casual workers have been in the same position for over a year!
What is a union?
A union is an organisation which brings together workers or students to fight for their collective interests. In a workplace this might mean fighting for better wages and conditions and on campus this might mean fighting for lower fees and better services for students.
When workers or students work together in a collective they have much improved bargaining power. The members of a union support each other so that we don’t have to face a problem or negotiate with the boss on our own. When workers stick together like this we have a much better chance of getting a better deal. The more union members the better the deal.
Unite Union membership in New Zealand has more than doubled to nearly two thousand in Restaurant Brands stores after a union employment agreement was reached last week covering 3500 workers in Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut nationwide.
“The enormous surge in growth of membership reflects the workers support at the outcome of negotiations for a new union collective agreement,” said Unite National Secretary Matt McCarten.
Low pay in the form of youth wages is the biggest problem facing young workers and students today. Even though young workers, students and apprentices are working longer hours than ever, more and more young people are living in extreme poverty.
One in seven undergraduates report going without food or other basic essentials. Students often now spend more than half their income on rent! One in four students, regularly miss classes to keep up with work commitments (Latrobe 2006 study), while many students have to drop out of higher education and training altogether because they simply can’t afford to study and work!
One way in which we can fight against student poverty is to organise our workplaces, and to fight for better wages and conditions. The first step, for all workers is to know your rights at work. Many students and young workers are not aware of their rights, and are often ripped off at work.
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If you are going to the Big Day Out in Melbourne next Monday be sure to take some time between bands and come past the UNITE information stall.
We will be promoting the ‘Boost Our Pay’ campaign and handing out our new leaflets that we have produced in conjunction with the RMIT Student Union. The new info will focus on youth wages and health and safety at work.