A protest held by Unite in Auckland in last month against zero-hour contracts at McDonald's. Photo: Henry Acland/RNZ
The Unite Union says it has reached an agreement with McDonald's over ending zero-hour contracts.
Unite national director, Mike Treen, said it was a historic agreement and means all of the country's major fast food chains have committed to ending the controversial contracts, which require workers to be on-call but with no guaranteed work.
The deal means 80 per cent of the hours worked by McDonald's employees - based on what they work in a three-month period - will be guaranteed.
A survey on hours worked will also be done every three months.
In a statement, McDonald's confirmed an agreement had been reached and said the guaranteed hours would be offered from 1 October up to a 32-hour weekly cap.
The company said it acknowledged that security of hours was important to its staff, which is why it had agreed to end its zero-hour contracts.
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McDonald’s said it had already agreed in principle to write guaranteed hours into its employment agreements, and had been working on the technical details with the union since early April.
Treen said planned strikes at McDonald's stores around the country today would be called off.
However, he said, in some cases it would be too late to cancel the action so supporters were urged to hold victory celebrations instead.
This story was first published on radionz.co.nz.