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KFC, Pizza Hut, Carl's Jr workers striking in New Zealand

May 17, 2019

In New Zealand, hundreds of KFC, Carl's Jr. and Pizza Hut frontline workers are striking this weekend through 2 a.m. local time. The workers are employees of the New Zealand master franchisor for those brands, Restaurant Brands New Zealand. 

According to a New Zealand Herald report, 88 percent of the 763 employees of Restaurant Brands New Zealand who are members of the Unite Union are taking part in the job action, which protests wages and starting rates at the chains in that nation.

The strike follows six days of unresolved negotiations between management and the union, with much of the disagreement centered around the amount that skilled staff received over and above the starting rate for less experienced workers. A union official told the newspaper that this became the biggest area of contention after the nation's minimum wage increased to $17.70 in New Zealand dollars in April, the equivalent of about $11.55 in the U.S. 

The company told the paper that approximately 1,500 union employees wanted wage increases of more than 7%, but  Restaurant Brands' offer for KFC and Carl's Jr employees is 5.7%. Restaurant Brands was "partially" taken over, the paper said, earlier this year by Mexican fast-food investor, Finaccess Capital. That happened after Restaurant Brands brought Taco Bell to New Zealand and Australia.