McDonalds talks down Australian economy and tells whoppers to save face as sales fall

Don Thompson

Reuters 22 July 2013:

The world's biggest restaurant chain by sales reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit and said it expects global same-restaurant sales in July to be relatively flat, sending its shares down almost 3 percent in midday trading.

Camden Haven Courier 24 July 2013:

McDonald's, the world's biggest fast-food chain, says sales in Australia are going backwards, citing incorrect figures on the level of youth unemployment to help explain why fewer people are buying its burgers and fries.

Although the introduction of the "Loose Change" menu in 2012 bolstered sales of its food last year, thrifty consumers have withdrawn from even that bargain basement offer and are spending less at the McDonald's counter.

Addressing investors in the US, McDonald's global chief executive and president Don Thompson warned that lower levels of spending in Australia and cut-throat competition among fast-food chains in the region had slashed revenue for the company.

He told the mostly US audience that the economy in Australia had worsened since 2012 and is reported to have said that youth unemployment had hit more than 25 per cent…..

So has Australia's youth unemployment hit more than 25 per cent as Don Thompson asserts?

This is what the International Labour Organisation's report Global Employment Trends For Youth 2013 states:

The weakening of the global recovery in 2012 and 2013 has further aggravated the youth jobs crisis and the queues for available jobs have become longer and longer for some unfortunate young jobseekers. So long, in fact, that many youth are giving up on the job search. The prolonged jobs crisis also forces the current generation of youth to be less selective about the type of job they are prepared to accept, a tendency that was already evident before the crisis. Increasing numbers of youth are now turning to available part time jobs or find themselves stuck in temporary employment. Secure jobs, which were once the norm for previous generations - at least in the advanced economies - have become less easily accessible for today’s youth. The global youth unemployment rate, estimated at 12.6 per cent in 2013,is close to its crisis peak. 73 million young people are estimated to be unemployed in 2013. At the same time, informal employment among young people remains pervasive and transitions to decent work are slow and difficult. The economic and social costs of unemployment, long‐term unemployment, discouragement and widespread low‐quality jobs for young people continue to rise and undermine economies’ growth potential… Since 2009, little progress has been made in reducing youth unemployment in the Developed Economies and European Union as a whole. The youth unemployment rate in 2012 is estimated at 18.1 per cent, the same rate as in 2010 and the highest level in this region in the past two decades. If the 3.1 per cent discouragement rate is taken into account, the discouragement adjusted youth unemployment rate becomes 21.2 per cent. The youth unemployment rate is projected to remain above 17 per cent until 2015, and decrease to 15.9 per cent by 2018….. Regional youth unemployment rates show large variations. In 2012, youth unemployment rates were highest in the Middle East and North Africa, at 28.3 per cent and 23.7 per cent, respectively, and lowest in East Asia (9.5 per cent) and South Asia (9.3 per cent). Between 2011 and 2012, regional youth unemployment rates increased in all regions except in Central and South‐Eastern Europe (non‐EU) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Latin America and the Caribbean, and South‐East Asia and the Pacific. Encouraging trends of youth unemployment are observed in, for example, Azerbaijan, Indonesia and the Philippines......

In June 2013 Forbes, The Centre for American Progress and Armstrong Economics were reported that youth unemployment in the USA has hit 16.2 per cent.

While the Australian Bureau of Statistics's 6202.0 Labour Force Australia states that in June 2013 the unemployment rate for people looking for full-time work in the 15-24 year old age group was 11.2 per cent and the unemployment rate for those looking for part-time work in that age group was 11.7 per cent. Australia's overall unemployment rate is currently 5.7 per cent.

So it seems that Mr. Thompson might be searching just a little to hard for excuses and, if he were to look at McDonalds history in Australia of poor workplace practices and equally poor corporate behaviour he might find the real answer as to why its 'burger and fries' sales are falling in this country.

Background:

McDonalds on the NSW North Coast

McDonalds in Tecoma, Victoria - BurgerOff, Tecoma Village Action Group, Tecoma Petition, NO McDonalds in The Dandenong Ranges

McDonald's? Spare us!

McDonald's Australia has a development application before Clarence Valley Council for a 24 hour a day eat-in and drive-through store in the small coastal town of Yamba which has a permanent population of around 6,000 residents and no 24/7 food outlets.

McDonald's recently announced that its Ballina licensee Scott Campbell will also be the licensee for its proposed Yamba fast food store.

Needless to say the ambient temperature in Yamba has risen considerably as a result of McDonald's move on the town and many are not looking forward to increased traffic, more litter and a focal point for anti-social behaviour after the pubs close.

Apparently Mr. Campbell is aware of the general drift of public opinion and is said to be avoiding Yamba at the moment as he fears being "crucified".

A letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner on 19 April 2010:

McDonald's? Spare us

BOTH Jim Agnew and Chris Pontifex in letters both gave stirring and loving platitudes to McDonald's.

However, they seem a little 'selfish' themselves. Firstly, McDonald's is not building McDonald's House in Yamba, they are building a 'restaurant', a 24/7 operation at Treelands Drive.

A multi-million dollar company giving to charity - so they should but it is my experience that the humble wage earner in Australia (and elsewhere) are the people who give more collectively than any big corporation, ie, Boxing Day Tsunami and Haiti.

Jim, you will not be affected by the increased traffic (already a growing problems over the years and petitioned by residents) on Osprey, Treelands, Gumnut/Halyard roads.

The increasing traffic on these roads already is a problem for residents and has still yet to be addressed and solved.

Nor are you a resident who is virtually opposite the proposed structure or living just doors away or backing onto it.

Chris Pontifex claims it is 'just Treelands Drive and not the centre of town' and asks how it could affect the aesthetic value of the town.

It can and will and Treelands and adjoining streets have homes along them still.

It will affect the aesthetic value of these homes, the street and living conditions along that area.

As far as small business is concerned and the claims they are being selfish - many who claim this are not small business owners in the area or if they are, they are not food-related services.

Small businesses operate on small margins and any invasion to this margin by a large multi-million dollar company like McDonald's will ruin them. (Oh Maccas will employ many youth and many small businesses whose owners have mortgages and families and who employ people in this area can no longer operate and have to close because McDonald's takes their custom, ie, the plight that may face Smoko's in the industrial centre).

But wait! You tell me it is a franchise owner and not the multi-million dollar McDonald's who will benefit?

Exactly how many franchises can be operated by one franchisee?

I've spoken to people who have dealt with McDonald's on a sponsoring sporting groups basis - they all tell me the same. The only sponsorship they received was footballs and vouchers.

So much for 'putting so much into the sports groups' in the community.

Small business here does that already and much more than token gestures.

Why can't they just have a small section of a shopping centre - one small shop like other franchise businesses here?

Why can't they be on the highway?

How can you justify a 24/7 store in Yamba when we are not as big as Ballina and Grafton?

We don't need such excess for such a small town.

CELESTE WARREN, Yamba.

A Facebook NO to McDonalds in Yamba entry:

Michelle Smith It's not about the food for us, it's simply that we love Yamba as a quaint and peaceful holiday place free from chain-store fast food and commercialism. We have raved about the fact that the town is full of small local businesses, cafes and coffee shops and that we really feel like we've "escaped the city" when we are there. I'd like to say "no" simply so Yamba can keep this identity for us and many many more travellers and visitors who go for the same reason. Yes McDonald's plays a huge role in our Australian way of life, but surely they don't need to [be] quite everywhere?

Meanwhile elsewhere in Australia..........

The Northern Star on 7 January 2010:

POLICE are appealing for witnesses following an assault on a 50-year-old Byron Bay man and a 43-year-old man from Alstonville at McDonald's in Ballina. The incident happened at 4pm on Tuesday when a group of three males were asked to leave the restaurant, and then the grounds, after consuming alcohol and abusing staff and customers. A staff member who asked the group to leave was punched in the face and knocked unconscious momentarily. Another male customer came to his aid and tried to stop the group from leaving the scene, but was punched repeatedly in the face. Both victims were taken to Ballina Hospital, where one of the men was admitted. He was later released.

The Gympie Times on 6 January 2010:

"DISGUSTING", is how Magistrate Dennis Beutel described the behaviour of a drunken teenager at Gympie's McDonalds recently.

The Canberra Times on 5 February 2010:

The court heard......had consumed up to five beers between 5.30pm and 1.30am and had not eaten anything, which it was said contributed to his high breath test reading.

Police noticed the vehicle that evening and saw it pull over into the McDonalds car park.

The Canberra Times on 26 February 2010:

.... pleaded guilty to low- range drink driving and operating a vehicle so the wheels lose traction after he was caught with a blood alcohol reading of .060 in Queanbeyan McDonalds car park at 11.45pm.

The Queensland Times on 22 December 2009:

AN IPSWICH man drove just 200 metres to a fast food restaurant while more than three times the limit because he was hungry, a court heard.

Ipswich Magistrates Court was told 22-year-old Kyron Lee Griffiths had driven to McDonalds and home again on December 3.

He was fined $900 and disqualified from driving for nine months.

The Chronicle on 25 November 2009:

.....yesterday faced court after he assaulted a teenage girl working at McDonald's by grabbing her hair and slamming her head on the counter.

........was a passenger in a vehicle going through the McDonald's drive-through at College View at 12.20am on November 1.

He was drunk and angry because a McDonald's worker could not understand what they were trying to order.

The Hamburgler fights back against Yamba?

Yamba went public in the media last week about its opposition to the McDonald's Restaurants move to establish one of its fast food outlets in Treelands Drive.

A Facebook page was also created called NO to McDonalds in Yamba.

Shortly thereafter another Facebook page sprang up, YES to McDonalds in Yamba (snapshot above). This page looks suspiciously like it was created by the multinational food franchise, its publicists or a company employee or two - perhaps even their family members.

It has all the hallmarks; links to the official company website and multiple promos for McDonald's goods and activities.

However, like the Hamburgler, the page hides behind a mask and doesn't openly declare its creator's identity.

Update:

Just after the above post was published the YES to McDonalds in Yamba page posted this:

Noticed something so fun today, some people think this site (page) has been setup by McDonald's Australia......

I am a local who has lived in Townsend, Yamba and Maclean for plenty of years. I have family up and down the Clarence Valley and my Parents have been local residents for 13+ years.

So NO this isn't a corporate site. It's a personal FAN site which is pointing out all the POSITIVES!

The jury's still out on this claim.

Maccas not winning hearts, minds or money in 2012

In April 2012 The Sydney Morning Herald showed that the McDonalds fast food behemoth is living in hope in southern climes:

AUSTRALIA'S love affair with Big Macs and french fries may be waning, with McDonald's growth in the region sliced by more than half.

The fast food giant's global chief operating officer, Donald Thompson, described the local market as ''challenging'' and getting worse.

To counter the sales downturn across Australian stores, McDonald's has introduced initiatives including the launch last month of its Loose Change menu, which offers a range of items under $2 and its Value Lunch deal.

Releasing its first-quarter earnings results in the US on the weekend, McDonald's said sales at its US stores were up 8.9 per cent for the quarter, while comparable-store sales rose 5.5 per cent in its Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa region (APMEA), which takes in Australia………………….

Only a few years ago, following the global financial crisis, Australia was one of the best-performing regions for the restaurant chain. In 2009 the local operation posted sales growth of 6 per cent, nearly double the global rate of 3.8 per cent.

The stronger performance was driven by an image overhaul, including a revamp of its menu to offer healthier alternatives as well as gourmet-style burgers, such as the Angus Burger, which proved a big hit.

The Australian spokeswoman said the local business had improved in the past two months and managers expected it to match global growth rates as the year continued. McDonald's is estimated to have a 46 per cent share of the quick-service restaurant category in Australia. It is planning to open 35 stores this year to take its Australian portfolio to 900.

One could speculate that its ongoing heavy-handed site development tactics in the face of community opposition contribute to the sales down-turn it is experiencing.
However, customer dissatisfaction, as well as health and safety issues, also may play their part in this marked decline.

A McDonald's social media promotional campaign at the beginning of the year was pulled after two hours  and Twitter 'sanitised' because the company's hashtag #McDStoriese produced tweets like these. While its televised advertorial in the same month fell flat.

Again in January, Perth Now reported that McDonalds was being fined for more convictions concerning food quality and preparation. In NSW the company was fined in August 2011 for Fail to maintain the food premises to the required standard of cleanliness - accumulation of rubbish, food debris, grease and dirt on floor  and in March 2012 for Fail to maintain the food premises to the required standard of cleanliness - accumulation of dirt, grease and food waste, previous warnings given  at two of the fast food outlets it manages itself.

ABC News on 11 January 2012 also indicated that customers were being systematically defrauded by staff:

A 33-year-old man is on trial in the District Court in Perth accused of involvement in a multi-million-dollar card skimming scheme involving customers of fast food company McDonald's.

The scheme led to a total of $3.5 million being taken out of the accounts of thousands of West Australians.
It is alleged Navaneeth Ponnabalam was one of many people who took part in the scheme, which involved swapping EFTPOS pin pads at McDonald's stores with ones that could record the bank details of customers.
The court was told customers who used the drive-through had details of their accounts copied by the machines and then money was withdrawn from their accounts interstate and overseas.

In 2012 McDonalds outlets continue to attract antisocial and criminal behaviour, such as stabbings, robbery, violent confrontation with police and assault.

The quiet desperation that is McDonalds Australia

In 2010  thanks to a blindly pro-multinational and Grafton-centric Clarence Valley Council, the little coastal town of Yamba had an ugly prefab, generic designed and unwanted McDonalds fast food outlet foist upon it.

The only thing that this multinational appears to have brought to the town is a level of litter in Treelands Drive and environs that it never had before.

So it was with quiet satisfaction that I read this in Lifehacker at the end of July 2013:

When we heard about McDonald’s Free Breakfast Deal promotion, we were expecting long queues and a lengthy wait. However, you should be served pretty quickly if our local outlet is anything to go by…

Over the next month, McDonald’s Australia is offering free breakfast items each Monday morning, beginning with today’s free Bacon McMuffin. There’s no catch or additional purchase requirements (although there is a limit of 1000 freebies per store and only one item per customer).

The above photo is what the line looked like at McDonald’s Circular Quay restaurant at approximately 8am. As you can see, demand for the free breakfast isn’t particularly overwhelming…..

It would appear that in 2012-2013 McDonalds’ Yamba store is not alone in failing to draw in customers and now this multinational is reduced to giving away its product.

Is McDonald's Australia trying to hoodwink Clarence Valley Council?

Historical image of Treelands Drive and environs circa 2005
Click on image to enlarge

Eight (8) school buses use Treelands Drive, Yamba in the morning and three (3) school buses use Treelands Drive in the afternoon on school days.
Twelve (12) ordinary buses on the Yamba to Grafton and Return route move along Treelands Drive each weekday starting at around 7.15 am and ending at approximately 6.20pm.
On weekends and most public holidays these ordinary buses travel up and down Treelands Drive eight (8) times in total.
[Figures based on published timetable and telephone conversation with Busways,6 April 2010]

So there is a grand total of twenty-three (23) bus movements in Treelands Drive each Monday through to Friday in any normal week.

Evidently this road is generally thought to be the slowest section of the Yamba township bus route.

Why am I bothering to tell Clarence Valley residents something they all know or could find out with a single phone call to the Busways Yamba office?

Because apparently this simple piece of information was beyond the capabilities of McDonald's Australia when it presented a "Traffic Impact Assessment" to Clarence Valley Council, as part of its development application for a 24 hour eat-in and drive through fast food outlet in Treelands Drive.

This is what McDonald's asserts: "There is a bus shelter across Treelands Drive from the site with a posted timetable indicating Hail and Ride services, although it is unclear how the bus routes through the vicinity from Yamba Road." [McDonalds Australia Pty Ltd,Report for Proposed McDonalds Restaurant at 7 Treelands Drive Yamba, Traffic Impact Assessment, March 2010,p.11]

One would have thought that a timetable giving times for buses picking up and putting down "opp Bi-Lo" would have given McDonald's some hint - just as a sensible person would have expected that this large multinational would have thought to add school bus movements into the traffic mix.

But wait, there's more! McDonald's Australia thinks it is perfectly acceptable to expect that traffic flow (along Treelands Drive onto Yamba Road or Gumnut Road, up and down Osprey Drive, or along Gumnut through to The Halyard and down Shores Drive to Yamba Road) will go swimmingly, even with its own averaged prediction of anywhere between 180-230 extra vehicles per hour with an average maximum of 340 extra vehicles per hour in each direction along Treelands Drive. [ibid p.17]

How do we know all will be well? Why because McDonald's is using a 'guesstimate' (apparently based on one site visit) for how well the intersections at each end of Treelands Drive function at the present time; "Due to the absence of vehicle turning movement data for the intersection of Yamba Road/Treelands Drive and Treelands Drive/Gumnut Road, the intersections could not be assessed for existing operational performance." As well as relying on its own interpretation of a decade old Yamba Traffic Study to tick off on the proposed increase in traffic along Yamba Road generally in the vicinity of the shopping precinct. [ibid,p.10-11]

Now I haven't even begun to look at every aspect of the McDonald's/Clarence Property/Westlawn application because, with Council charging over a dollar per page for photocopying, I haven't had the luxury of bringing a copy of the entire Environmental Impact Statement etc. back home with me and so must return to read further.

However, if the aforementioned issues are an example of how McDonald's has approached the matter I am concerned that both the Yamba community and shire councillors are being fed a tissue of wishful thinking and possibly deliberate obfuscation.

This is one of those times that all current shire councillors should do more than open their business papers the night before or on the day of the monthly meeting and, seriously look at what McDonald's is asserting in the actual documents it has lodged.

The amenity of a significant section of Yamba and residents' ability to move easily/safely by car, bus or on foot, are two of the many things at stake because of this particular inappropriate development application.

McDonald's at Ballina finds itself with negative reviews

Menu Mates is a website which assists in the search for somewhere to eat and allows its readers to review restaurants of their choice.

McDonald's at Ballina is not faring well now that Yamba residents have found the site:

Posted by Yamba-ite on 24/04/2010
No to McDonald's in Yamba!
McDonald's Australia, the Westlawn Group and Scott Campbell all want a McDonald's store in Yamba. The Yamba community says NO to that. Tell Scott so at: scampbell@licensee.mcdonalds.com.au

Posted by YambaProud on 15/04/2010
No thanks!

Mr Scott Campbell, please do not open a McDonalds restaurant in Yamba, our community does not want it.

McDonald's versus Yamba: boycott calls continue

The following was posted on Menu Mate at the webpage titled
McDonald's Family Restaurants (Ballina)
on 25 May 2010 and a copy sent to me:

Reviewer Name: EK
Title: McDonald's stay away from Yamba!
Comments: Dear Mr Campbell, I know a McDonald's restaurant in Yamba was approved last week by the local Council but the majority of Yamba residents DO NOT want it. Why do you want to come to Yamba when it is quite clear you are not wanted here. Please take back your application as most people will be boycotting it and you will not make any money.

To date this post is failing to display on the webpage in question. Hhmm........
However, the call to boycott any McDonald's eat-in and drive through fast food outlet in the small NSW North Coast town of Yamba continues.
While planning issues and councillots' votes refuse to die in The Daily Examiner letters to the editor on 11 June 2010 (twenty-five days after Clarence Valley Council development consent):

Valley Watch on Maccas decision
THE issues addressed by Valley Watch were not anti-McDonalds per se - they were mainly based on the inappropriateness of the intensified use of this particular site and the resultant adverse effects on local residents.
The zoning allows some uses 'with consent', meaning planners and councillors must take into account all the issues; it does not mean mandatory approval, a fact, which escaped five of the seven councillors voting on the DA.
A "refreshment room" is allowed in the zoning.
The definition does not include drive-through facilities, which the applicant claims is an ancillary use.
An accepted definition of ancillary use is that the area is subordinate or incidental to the dominant use (example being: accommodation for nurses on a hospital site).
As the drive-through will operate when the restaurant is closed, we do not believe it meets the accepted definitions of ancillary use, and is therefore not allowed in the zoning.
The fact that this commercial zoning abuts a residential area, the extra traffic that will be generated in the already planned Community Health Centre and Performing Arts Centre opposite, the increased traffic in residential streets, the adverse effect of lighting on surrounding residences, and the increased noise generated by this development as opposed to a retail outlet operating normal trading hours, were totally inadequately addressed in the planning report and by the majority of councillors.
Crime prevention was mentioned in the application, but it was not properly addressed in the report.
Councillors and planners were given many instances of increased anti-social behaviour and litter problems at other McDonalds outlets, but the issue was not addressed in the planning reports (Cr Margaret McKenna suggested Yamba residents could pick up the rubbish on their walks).
We thank Crs Tiley and Hughes, who voted against the development, and express our disappointment in the other councillors' lack of understanding of the issues and the inadequate information provided to them in the planning reports.
RONWYN LOPEZ, Valley Watch Inc secretary

David and Goliath. Yamba versus McDonald's

On Tuesday 30 March 2010 a community meeting was called at Yamba to discuss opposition to multinational McDonald's move to establish a 24 hour drive-through food franchise in that coastal town.

The meeting was well attended and the crowd spilled out of the space and onto the street.

Yamba Chamber of Commerce, Valley Watch and Coast Care all spoke out against the McDonald's development application, as did local residents and some small business owners.

A number of Clarence Valley shire councillors attended the meeting and it was obvious that they had already started to receive emails lobbying against the fast food giant's plans.

The meeting convenor invited anyone who supported having a McDonald's in Yamba to the microphone to put forward their views. No-one came forward.

Some background:

The NSW Food Authority keeps what is popularly known as a name and shame file.

In 2009 no Yamba restaurant, cafe or small take-away food business was listed on this file.
However the multinational fast food company McDonald's was mentioned six times.Three times under management by franchise operators and another three times under its own Australian management.

Penalties were issued for Mcdonald's at Armidale, Lithgow, Penrith, Randwick (twice) and Ultimo.

Examples of official findings regarding these outlets:

• Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests - live cockroaches observed on the premises
  
• Fail to maintain the food premises to the required standard of cleanliness
  
• Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests - live cockroaches observed in the food preparation area
  
• Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests - Customer complaint of fly found in burger. Several flies found in food preparation area

While elsewhere in Australia in April 2009 at 3am; McFilthy - you want gastro with that?

Graphic from NO to McDonalds in YAMBA at Facebook

Balfastards rule on Clarence Valley Council

Say NO! to these Clarence Valley councillors
in 2012

because they said
YES to McDonalds in YAMBA

in 2010

Pat Comben

Grafton
Attitude
a town doesn't tell council what to do
residents are rabble and i'm a reasoned man
i'm an important person - let me spell that for you, i*m*p*o*r*t*a*n*t

Margaret McKenna

Grafton
Attitude
there' s nothing special about Yamba

Grafton's better-er

youse residents should be happy to pick up red & gold litter on yer morning walk

Maccas is the health food of the nation

Ian Dinham

Yamba
Attitude
i'm telling you i don't want to vote for this DA - honest!

but i'll happily vote 'yes' anyway because it's never my fault if i raise my hand for the developer

Jim Simmons

Maclean
Attitude
please listen to me bleat that i share all your concerns about this DA and don't punish me for being one of Comben's sheep

Craig Howe

Grafton
Attitude
eh? duh? wha? yes sir, mista developer

and throw the mayor in for good measure

because his vision's lacking and his leadership's non-existent

Richie Williamson

Some background on McDonald's versus Yamba here.

Pics are from Clarence Valley Council website

Sometimes it is hard to believe how bone-achingly stupid governments can be…… Part Two

According to the NSW Berejiklian Coalition Government; Smart and Skilled is a reform of the NSW Vocational Education and Training (VET) system. It's helping people in NSW get the skills they need to find a job and advance their careers.

This was an example of Smart and Skilled/VET at work in 2016…….

The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 September 2016:

The NSW government has given tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to help train staff at private corporations including global giant McDonalds.

A freedom of information request by the NSW Greens reveals the state government has awarded Mcdonald's Australia $1,809,485 in funding for vocational education and training.

In the second quarter of 2016 McDonald's reported net income of $1.09 billion, or $1.25 per share, on sales of$6.26 billion.

This was Smart and Skilled/VET-HELP on a national level in 2017……

via @TAFEeducation

Now in 2018 to date an est. 50 VET-HELP private educational centres have had their registration suspended, cancelled, not renewed, had conditions applied or are under AAT review.

According to the Commonwealh Ombudsman, between 1 July 2017 and 31 March 2018 there were 5,193 VET loan assistance complaints lodged by students, many of whom had discovered they had been signed up to a student loan without their knowledge or discovered that the loan amount is larger than they expected.

Long memories may plague Williamson in March 2011

On Facebook this month at No to McDonalds in YAMBA:

Dave Fleming Dont forget our spineless Mayor Ritchie Williamson's involvement in the Yamba Maccas when you vote in the state election next month.

Turnbull Government dragging its heels on legislation to protect vulnerable workers?

The Age, 6 April 2017:

The peak body for the $150 billion franchise sector has launched an intense behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign to convince MPs to water down Turnbull government legislation designed to prevent future worker exploitation scandals.

Spearheaded by former Liberal minister Bruce Billson, the Franchise Council of Australia is targeting the government, opposition and crossbenchers as it seeks to pressure Employment Minister Michaelia Cash into changing course on the bill.

It has also directed its members - which include 7-Eleven, Pizza Hut, Caltex and other companies accused of underpaying their workers - to bombard MPs with calls and letters about the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill.

The campaign comes as petrol giant United Petroleum became the latest company to be embroiled in an exploitation scandal, with the workplace regulator blasting it for rampant underpayment of workers across its franchise network. United Petroleum is not listed as a FCA member.

Mr Billson personally pressed the franchisor case with visits, calls and texts to MPs during the most recent parliamentary sitting fortnight in Canberra.

And in emails that have begun arriving in MP's inboxes in recent days, franchisors argue it is "unreasonable" to single out the franchising sector.

"The real issue here is that the risk of worker underpayment exists across the economy," the missives read.

The government's bill was introduced into Parliament last month but subsequently disappeared from the agenda, fuelling speculation from the Opposition that the council's campaign was succeeding.

However Senator Cash said the government remained "firmly committed to this policy"…..

The Franchise Council originally sought to kill off the bill entirely, warning it would lead to unavoidable unintended consequences.

It is now arguing for extensive amendments and is particularly concerned about the world-first "joint liability" provisions, claiming they will negatively impact investment, growth and employment.

It also wants courts and regulators to be explicitly forced to take a businesses size and resources into account, and further clarity about what "reasonable steps" actually means….

Franchises employ close to 500,000 people across 73,000 outlets across Australia and contribute up to 10 per cent of Australia's GDP.

The Age, 7 April 2017:

Shocking cases of wage fraud in the big brands of 7-Eleven, Domino's, Caltex and United Petroleum, ricochet across the country, prompting all sides of politics to promise new legislation to rein in systemic wage fraud.

Or so we thought.

In the weeks before the election the Turnbull government promised to change the law to make franchisors jointly responsible with their franchisees for workplace abuses if they have significant control or influence on the franchisee……

But the sector decided to have none of that.

Enter Bruce Billson, the former small business minister who became chairman of the franchise lobby group just before the last election. His role as chairman of the Franchise Council of Australia has been to tell anyone who will listen that the proposed laws are too draconian.

It was a smart move by the FCA. In one newspaper article Billson described the new laws as "a media-inspired regulatory misadventure to introduce unprecedented laws that fit up the franchisor for the Fair Work Act breaches of their franchisees where they have had no actual involvement".

The article worked itself up into a fervour, arguing that the laws represent an "existential threat" to the successful franchise model of enterprise.

The reality is convenience store giant 7-Eleven became embroiled in a systemic wage fraud scandal in August 2015. It shocked the nation. The business model was flawed and head office agreed to repay exploited workers. More franchisors should follow its lead.

The Protecting Vulnerable Workers Bill was designed to do just that. It was introduced on March 1, with the legislation listed on March 20.

But it quietly disappeared from the program last week with two other Fair Work Bills listed in its place, without explanation.

When it will be re-listed is anyone's guess but it is unlikely to be the next sitting as it will be dominated by the federal budget.

According to the Australian Parliament website the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill 2017: "amends the Fair Work Act 2009 to: increase maximum civil penalties for certain serious contraventions of the Act; hold franchisors and holding companies responsible for certain contraventions of the Act by their franchisees or subsidiaries where they knew or ought reasonably to have known of the contraventions and failed to take reasonable steps to prevent them; clarify the prohibition on employers unreasonably requiring their employees to make payments in relation to the performance of work; provide the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) with evidence-gathering powers similar to those available to corporate regulators such as the Australian Securities and Investment Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission; and prohibit the hindering or obstructing of the FWO and or an inspector in the performance or his or her functions or powers, or the giving of false or misleading information or documents.”

On 23 March 2017 this bill was referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee.

Submissions were invited but none are listed on the Inquiry’s webpage to date. Public hearings are being held in Canberra on Wednesday 12 April and in Sydney on Thursday 13 April 2017.

Those giving evidence before the Senate  inquiry are:

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI)

Council of Small Business Australia (COSBOA)

Franchise Council of Australia

National Retailers Association

The Australian Industry Group (AIG)

McDonalds Australia

Department of Employment

Fair Work Ombudsman

Fair Work Commission

West Justice (Western Community Legal Centre)

Prof. Andrew Stewart

Gerard de Valence

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU)

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA)

One other to be announced

           

The Committee is due to report to Parliament on 9 May 2017.

Is fast food giant McDonald's finally paying the price for its arrogance?

There were probably many Yamba residents muttering “I told you so” under their breaths after reading this in The Sydney Morning Herald on 10 August 2014:

Sales at McDonald's have recorded their worst results in over 10 years.

Global sales at the fast food giant dropped 2.5 per cent in June and July.

Not since March 2003, when global sales plunged 3.7 per cent in consecutive months, has the world's biggest restaurant chain suffered such losses.

Australia is part of McDonald's Asia Pacific Middle East and Africa operation, which was the worst performing sector in the second quarter of 2014. Its sales declined 7.3 per cent.  

After similarly disappointing first quarter results, Australia was singled out as a poor performing market in April…..

One aspect of the Australian psyche the multinational fast food chain, McDonald’s, never grasped – if you force yourselves on our communities we tend not to buy your product.

In particular I suspect that the amount of national publicity the Telcoma protestors managed to garner is beginning to impact on many household fast food choices around the country.

Which makes one wonder if the fast food giant’s McDelivery trial will also fall flat on its face in Australia.

Background

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/search?q=mcdonalds+yamba

McDonald's & Tantex Holdings spent a lot of money defending the indefensible over the last nine and a half months

Tanya Manteit-Mulcahy owns Tantex Holdings,
which runs several McDonald’s stores in Brisbane
Picture: Jono SearleSource: News Limited 26 November 2019

The Advocate, 31 August 2020:

A Queensland McDonalds franchisee has been ordered to pay $1000 in compensation to a worker denied toilet and drink breaks.

Tantex Holdings, which operates six of the fast-food restaurants, has been ordered to pay former employee Chiara Staines compensation by the Federal Court on Monday.

In its published reasons for the decisions, the court found Ms Staines had been denied a 10-minute paid drink break on all but three occasions while working at a Queen St Mall restaurant in Brisbane from May 8, 2017 to June 15, 2019.

McDonald's staff have been entitled to paid 10-minute drink breaks under McDonald's Australia Enterprise Agreement 2013, which was approved by the Fair Work Commission on July 24, 2013.

According to the agreement, all employees are entitled to a 10-minute drink break when they work a shift between four to nine hours.

If they work more than nine hours, staff are entitled to two 10-minute breaks.

This is in addition to a meal break if working longer than five hours.

Ms Staines told the court her work was fast-paced, hot with a constant smell of food and the environment was stressful and demanding, physically and mentally.

"Ms Staines was denied a short respite from, what was by its nature, a mentally and physically demanding job," Justice John Logan said.

Brisbane businesswoman Tanya Manteit-Mulcah is the sole director of Tantex Holdings, which conceded it had not provided Ms Staines with the allowed breaks.

"The drink break for which clause 29 of the Agreement provided was a workplace right," Justice Logan found.

"So, too, for reasons explained above, was a right, within the bounds of reasonableness, to pause for a drink of water or to go to the toilet during a shift a workplace right."

This matter appears to have been before the Federal Court - Fair Work Division for the last nine and a half months. 

The Statement of Claim reportedly alleged that Tantex Holdings breached multiple workplace laws and accused managers of engaging in coercion and threatening conduct.