Wendy’s workers first strike at Hornby, Christchurch, on February 18, 2015
Unite Union has accused the Wendy’s corporation of intimidating workers to stop striking. Workers have been pulled aside by managers to caution them against striking "or there would be consequences for their future at Wendy’s". One union delegate was called into a meeting with the company CEO Danielle Lendich and told not to join the strikes.
Ironically today has been designated a global day of action in defence of the right to strike by the International Trade Union Confederation.
Unite action at Wendy’s is part of the union campaign against zero hour contracts in the industry. The company has written to staff and the public to say that all staff get hours each week but what they don’t say is that most staff have zero hours guaranteed. The only group of workers with guaranteed hours at Wendy’s are those with two years service and "open availability" over six or seven days in the week.
Unite has also accused the company of cheating workers out of their entitlement to an alternative holiday for working on a public holiday because they claim their contracts don’t have normal days of work.
Workers took action in Christchurch today Unite will be picketing the flagship Te Atatu store from 5pm tonight to support the workers right to strike and for compensation for lost alternative holidays.
FEBRUARY 18 RIGHT TO STRIKE DAY
18 February 2015 has been designated by the ITUC General Council as a global day of action in defence of the right to strike, which is under attack by employer groups at the ILO.
The right to strike is a basic human right, which was won through struggle – yet all over the world this right is under attack. Unions exercising the right to industrial action are routinely met with repressive measures ranging from sackings, detentions and arrests to violence and even murder. The ITUC’s Global Rights Index shows that the right to strike is frequently restricted in law and violated in practice around the world
Right now, the International Labour Organisation’s mechanisms are under fire. The ILO is made up of three groups – employers, workers and governments. The employers’ group has challenged the very existence of the right to strike established under ILO Convention 87. The workers’ group is responding by asking for an opinion from the International Court of Justice on the right to strike in international law.
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