Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA)

New retail and fast food union challenges old order

Fast food workers, many of whom are young, have been left without a union fighting for decent wages and conditions.

On November 21, a new union 鈥 the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) 鈥 announced its formation. It is a rival in more ways than one to the conservative Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association (SDA).

The SDA, long led by Labor Party officials, has been at the centre of a national wages scandal in which 250,000 people are being paid less than the award by major employers including Coles, Woolworths, Hungry Jack鈥檚, KFC and McDonalds

New union for retail and fast food workers

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union () was launched on November 21 to challenge the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees鈥 Association (SDA) in the wake of several wage scandals.

RAFFWU secretary Josh Cullinan said enterprise agreements struck between major retailers and the SDA mean 鈥渆very day retail and fast food workers have over one million dollars taken from their pay packets鈥.

Cullinan said the RAFFWU is determined to help these underpaid workers.

Stop the rip offs! Young workers need fair wages and decent representation

The Young Workers Centre at Victorian Trades Hall on Facebook on November 17 calling on burger restaurant chain Grill鈥檇 to 鈥淪top the scam鈥.

A Grill鈥檇 employee has come forward, accusing the chain of using traineeships as an excuse to pay lower wages. Employees are being signed up to hospitality certificates, but the business refuses to schedule regular training sessions.

Quarter of a million workers underpaid in SDA deals

Workers in retail and fast-food outlets, including Woolworths, Hungry Jack's and KFC, are being underpaid more than $300 million a year, in a national wages scandal centred on deals struck with the socially conservative Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees Association (SDA). Fairfax Media has uncovered evidence that some of Australia's biggest employers are paying their employees less than the award in a longstanding and cosy partnership between big retail and fast-food employers and the union.

SDA no longer opposes equal marriage

The powerful conservative Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees鈥 Association (SDA) 鈥 the biggest right-wing union affiliated to the Labor Party 鈥 has passed a resolution declaring it will adopt a neutral stand on equal marriage. The union鈥檚 resolution declared: 鈥淭he Association shall have no position on the matter of Same Sex Marriage and will support the right of members of the ALP to act according to their conscience on the matter of SSM鈥.

Joe Bullock resigns from Senate

Right-wing Western Australian senator Joe Bullock has announced his resignation from the Senate over Labor's decision to remove the conscience vote for equal marriage rights in 2019. The former head of the WA branch of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association entered the Senate in 2014 after a back-room deal to dump the Left's Louise Pratt.

Bill Shorten forced to front Commission

Opposition leader Bill Shorten鈥檚 persistent response to media questions about allegations raised in the unions鈥 Royal Commission concerning his former union, the Australian Workers Union (AWU), has been to refuse to provide a 鈥渞unning commentary鈥. After being requested by the commission to appear before it last week, he is now reported as saying: 鈥淚 welcome the opportunity to talk about my 21-year record of standing up for workers鈥.

SDA making life harder for young workers

A new enterprise bargaining agreement reached by the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees鈥 Association (SDA) is set to leave thousands of low-paid workers worse off, according to detailed analysis conducted by union official Josh Cullinan, the May 24 Sydney Morning Herald said. 鈥淐ullinan, who works for the National Tertiary Education Union, did the analysis in a personal capacity, estimated Coles could be saving more than $20 million a year in wages by underpaying its staff.

In Brief: Vic unions condemn SDA

VIC TRADES HALL CONDEMNS SDA ON PENALTY RATES The Victorian Trades Hall Council has condemned the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees' Association鈥檚 agreement with the South Australian Chamber of Commerce to remove penalty rates for retail workers. The VTHC said it opposed any move to further the federal government鈥檚 agenda by attacking hard fought entitlements and condemns attacks by the business lobby to reduce workers' wages. EAST WEST LINK PAYOUT

Equal pay ruling boost for young workers

The campaign to win equal wages for young workers made a big gain last month, when the Fair Work Commission ruled that 20-year-old retail workers must be paid full wages. The ruling applies to workers with more than six months experience who are employed under the General Retail Industry Award and will be gradually implemented over the next financial year. It comes after a public campaign by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA), which represents more than 200,000 retail workers.