Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I know it's a little past lunchtime, but I want to talk about KFC, and I don't mean the old version of 'Finger lickin' good' KFC. I mean the current version of the employer—perhaps not of choice but of necessity—for many young Australians who've been working at that cultural institution that's now nearly 70 years old in our country. Young people have gone there to do their best days of work and, sadly, have been taken for granted.

In Australia, fair work is not a slogan. It's a standard that we have to defend. In every franchise, in every suburb and in every state, KFC should have fulfilled their proper responsibilities, particularly when they have so many young workers. Last week, we saw an important monumental outcome in holding employers like KFC to account. The large multinational has agreed to pay almost $29 million to thousands of current and former staff who were not provided breaks during shifts. This matters. It really matters. If they are your conditions at law in this country, there is no set of rules that allows a greedy employer to exploit young people. Just imagine the conversation going on. 'No, you're not entitled to your break.' That, on occasion, is one thing, but, when it becomes an institutionalised practice of a business, it is totally shameful.

The admission that has led to this agreement to pay $29 million for the unprovided breaks during shifts would never have been achieved without the tireless work of the SDA union, under the leadership of Gerard Dwyer, standing up for young workers against employers who think they have an entitlement to skirt the laws of the country. This class action not just is a win for workers but shows the power of collective action, and so often that is undermined by people who are sitting on the other side of this chamber.