UNITE Enlists International Support Against McD's

The significance of Matt MCCarten's UNITE union and its battle against the fast food giant, should not be under-estimated.

McDonalds has long been targeted by the international left for several reasons.

The Golden Arches are one of the great symbols of capitalism. McDonalds teaches capitalist systems and work ethic to hundreds of thousands of young people world wide. The left hate that. McDonalds has consistently resisted attempts to unionise its staff. If unionists in NZ could "break" McDonalds it would set a precedent for unionists and socialists all over the globe.


Therefore it is not surprising that UNITE activists have been visiting foreign trade unionists to drum up support.

I quote from UNITE organiser and Socialist Workers Oganisation member, Joe Carolan's Blog Anticapitaliste

"Our union is a small, activist union that recently led the world's first strikes at Starbucks, and has since won a substantial pay deal and improved conditions for our members there and at KFC and Pizza Hut as well. Details of our campaign and victory can be found at our campaign website, www.supersizemypay.com

However, we are also faced with a major challenge in the next few months with a concerted offensive from union busters McDonalds, who have threatened to "smash the Unite union". Our members and delegates have experienced severe victimisation and bullying, many workplace leaders having their hours cut, rosters changed to unsocial hours, or asked to find another job "if you don't like it here". Recently, they employed the services of a Kiwi arch union buster,who embarked on a policy of paying non union members more money in an attempt to destroy our membership on the shop floor.

Our members in McDonalds, bouyed by the victories we won at KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut, have now resolved to fight hard in the next few months. At the moment we have over 900 members in McDonalds stores in Auckland alone. But most of these trade unionists are on minimum wage, and are highly vulnerable. In this David and Goliath battle, they know full well they stand against a powerful multinational with billions of dollars in reserve, and a media, legal and advertising corps per excellence.

However, we also know that there are millions of trade unionists around the world who will be inspired if we can win this fight against McDonalds. It will truly inspire workers in so called "McJobs" everywhere that change is possible. As such, key Unite organisers have gone to the corners of the earth to spread the
word- Senior Organiser Mike Treen to Venezuela and Bolivia, and Education Officer Chrissy Holland to the LaborNotes Conference in Detroit. I am visiting interested trade unions and campaign groups in both Ireland and Britain, and can be contacted at
solidarityjoe@yahoo.com if you would like to meet up.

I am in the UK meeting General Secretary Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commerical Services Union on May 16th, and will be meeting other trade union leaders and groups until the 18th of May. I have a short 15 minute compilation of rushes from an upcoming documentary being made about the SupersizeMyPay.Com campaign to organise the unorganised in the fast food industries. The campaign has been colourful and energetic, and we want to spread its message through union websites, publications and branches."

I have already written here about Mike Treen's visit to Chavez's Venezuela and his meetings with Marxist-Leninist unionists. It is safe to assume that Bolivia was chosen because its new president, the radical Evo Morales is a close ally of Chavez.
Treen traveled with members of the Australian Socialist Alliance which is led by the Australian Democratic Perspective and the International Socialists (sister party of the British Socialist Workers Party and NZ's Socialist Workers Organisation).


LaborNotes is a militant trade union journal based in Detroit. It has close ties to the US based Trotsyite group, Solidarity, which is in turn, very close to the Australian Marxist-Leninists of the Democratic Socialist Perspective. The DSP is allied to NZ's Workers Charter Movement, Socialist Workers Organisation and UNITE.


Mark Serwotka is General Secretary of the 280,000 strong, British trade union for civil servants, the Public and Commercial Services Union. Serwotka was a member of Socialist Organiser in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and later a Socialist Alliance supporter. He then became the most prominent trade unionist to support the left-wing political party Respect. In the run-up to the 2005 UK general election he personally endorsed several Respect candidates.

Respect is led the British Socialist Workers Party, radical Muslims and the infamous George Galloway.


As UNITE leader Matt McCarten recently stated.

Our union, Unite, has sent three of our leading organisers to wealthier parts of the world to raise money from other trade unions for our upcoming campaign to win a union employment agreement for McDonald's workers.

Will money from Venezuela, Bolivia, the UK, Eire and the USA be channelled into bringing our local McDonalds franchisees to their knees? Are kiwi teens about to become the "patty in the burger" of an industrial battle of international significance?