Click the link below to read UNITE’s submission to the Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Committee: Inquiry into the Welfare of International Students. We hope that our submission helps to highlight some of the problems that international student workers face in and outside their workplaces.
UNITE member Kirk Leonard will be speaking at a meeting about the Rudd Government’s new Industrial Relations legislation, the Fair Work Act.
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.
7-Eleven workers in Sydney have been back paid over $50,000 after a Fair Work Ombudsman’s investigation prompted by UNITE. The following is an excerpt from the media release from the Fair Work Ombudsman:
“Fifteen convenience stores in Sydney’s CBD will reimburse 80 workers more than $50,000 after an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman found the employees were being underpaid.
Fair Work Ombudsman Executive Director Michael Campbell says inspectors have checked the books of 50 stores selected at random.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.