McDonald's New Zealand has sacked union delegate Sean Bailey for helping to expose the company's repeated failures to provide meal breaks for many staff working more than a four-hour shift as required by law, and for giving critical testimony on this issue to a parliamentary committee. CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO MCDONALD'S [1]
Unite is currently involved in legal action against McDonald's over the missing meal breaks. Bailey gave testimony to a Select Committee investigating employment law, following which he was issued a disciplinary letter stating "It appears that what you have said during the course of the select committee hearing and doing so in uniform may give rise to breaches of your obligations to your employer." The rules of Parliament expressly prohibit threatening or disadvantaging a person for presenting evidence.
Sean Bailey's militant union activism drew international attention [2] earlier this year during Unite's "McStrike" campaign for a new collective agreement after he alleged he had been subject to systematic anti-gay discrimination. The company waited 5 months to bring into the disciplinary procedure video footage allegedly showing Sean printing wage and time records, and believes he is being victimized for his testimony to Parliament.
Sean Bailey was dismissed on October 14.
You can support Sean Bailey and Unite, CLICK HERE TO SEND A MESSAGE TO MCDONALD'S [1] demanding his reinstatement!